Against All Odds
by Nature9000
Summary: After three years apart, Sasha returns, and with a child. Spencer must learn to become a responsible father and care for his family, even when things go horribly wrong, he must prove he is capable.
1. Baby

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: You're going to enjoy this. Trust me, I _know_ these things. The alternative title was Against the World, couldn't decide which to go by. Enjoy! Oh and yes, I will throw Sam/Freddie bits in here on multiple occasions that I get that opportunity.

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><p>Chapter 1 (Baby)<p>

_A young girl, twelve years of age, sat in a smoke filled booth calling out for her mother, her one and only lifeline. Her nostrils were burning and her ears felt like they were going to fall off. Why had her mother done this? Why had her mother brought her to her work and not her arcade? What was this place? Her spine chilled as the hollering and whooping of the crowd burst in her sensitive ears._

_ "Mama!" The music seemed to send its loathsome vibrations throughout her body. She screeched and poked her small brown head up above the booth where she saw several women walking around with hardly anything covering them. "Why are they dressed all naked? Why are you all naked! I want mama!" Her voice could barely be heard over the roars of the disgusting, filthy looking men in the place. She wanted to go to the local arcade. She put her hands on the top of the bar and stood in the chair, bouncing up and down, hoping to get someone to notice her. "Mama, I want to go to the arcade! Mama, let me go to the arcade! I don't want to be here anymore, I can't breathe! Where are you? Mama!"_

A baby's cry shot through her head and twenty nine year old Sasha 'Striker' Rodriquez. She wasn't Hispanic at all, but it was her mother's maiden name. She preferred Striker, the name she gave herself as she grew up in the arcade on Main Street. Her eyes flew open and she slowly stood up from her red couch, covered with stains from only God knew where. Her home was small, practically a two room shack, if anything, and it was empty. Minus a few essentials that came with the apartment, the couch, and the baby's crib, she had run out of money. Whatever money she made off of that which she sold, she used it to attempt to pay off a debt that was from a mistake she regretted making from day one.

"I'm coming Blake, don't cry…" Her voice was dry and her movements were slow. She walked to the other side of the room where the crib was and reached in, pulling out a two year old baby. He had brown hair and the features of his father. She often thought about the father of her child, she actually broke up with him after only dating for a couple weeks. She found him immature and a bit irresponsible, once she realized she was pregnant; there was no going back to him. She didn't think he'd be all that great of a father, but that was probably her mistake.

She moved Blake to her chest and pat his back with gentle, but firm pats. Her eyes moved to her front door, the large oak door was open, revealing her screen door, covered with eviction notices. Her lips curled to a frown as Blake continued to cry. "I know baby, mommy lost her job…" She'd been trying to get a job, but in between worrying about money and dealing with her son, she just hadn't been able to cut it. It seemed that the only jobs she could do were the ones that were off limits in her mind. "Don't worry, mommy's not going to work in a strip club or any other type of seedy work…but I have an idea…"

Her eyes turned to a picture frame that sat on the armrest of the couch, inside was a picture of Blake's father. Sure, she deemed him irresponsible when they met nearly three years ago, but maybe now was the time for him to step up to the plate. She just couldn't raise this baby on her own and she wasn't about to work as a stripper. Her mother died a stripper, having developed cancer from all that smoke. Sasha had just been twenty years old.

Her heart tightened as she gazed out the screen door, she was already supposed to have been gone. The landlord agreed not to report to her creditors because of the baby, but he wasn't going to extend her time any longer. It had been extended about five days so far, she had to be out _now_. Her car was gone, she had hardly a dime to her name anymore. She was waiting on the taxi cab to pick her up and take her to the bus station. Fortunately she could hear a car engine pulling up to the house.

Her heart lifted as she set her son in the baby carrier and strapped him in. Blake looked up at her with wide eyes and a grin on his face. She cooed at him and blew on his nose, causing him to giggle. Blake loved his carrier and was always excited whenever she put him in, only because he knew it meant he'd be going somewhere and he loved the gentle rocking motion. Most times it would put him to sleep, a great relief to Sasha whenever she was tired.

Suddenly her intuition started telling her to pay attention, something was wrong. She moved her hand up to her face and tucked her hair behind her ear. The sound of the engine was not that of a taxicab. Rather, it sounded of a high, constant rumbling sound, or a growing roar. A Porsche! Her eyes widened and her heart began racing as she turned her head towards the door. There it was, a silver Porsche GT3. It belonged to the thugs of Maurice Clayton, the loan shark that let her borrow money in hopes to pay off some bills and her rent.

"Shit!" She grabbed the carrier's handle and pulled it up, her eyes moved frantically around the room, trying desperately to find something. Her breathing heightened as she heard the car doors open and slam shut. She hated gambling, but in order to try and get some money to take care of Blake and to get rid of the bills and rent that she owed, she had to go to a casino and borrow money from the man. The money didn't seem to help her much as when she spent it, she got laid off from her job simply because she was too tired. How could they blame her for trying to raise her son!

She ran into the next room, the kitchen, and stopped when she heard one of the men knocking on the window. The man spoke with a deep, burly voice and his breath likely reeked of his cigar. That man was the bigger of the two, and by bigger, that mean taller and with a more muscular build. "Sasha, Mr. Clayton wants his money. Now I know you're not trying to run away from us."

_"The hell I'm not."_ Thoughts raced through her mind as she grabbed the back door. She heard the men rustling at the front door, possibly trying to get in. She took one last look at the interior of her home and breathed in deep, there was no turning back now. She had to get out of here and fast. Closing her eyes and taking that brave step, she pushed the door open and rushed outside.

As she made her way to the front yard, she watched the two men enter her home. She moved her eyes to the street and frowned, where the hell was that taxi? Thinking fast, she rushed over to the car and bent behind it. She bowed her head and groaned. In the midst of her frustration, she saw a small pocketknife on the ground beneath the car, one of the thugs must have dropped it. She grabbed it in her hands and set Blake down on the ground, grinning as she eyed the car's tires.

As she glanced to her right, her prayers were answered and the taxicab was arriving. Knowing if she just hopped in, these guys might follow her, she decided to head them off at that pass. Thinking fast, she ran around the car, slashing the tires and pocketing the small pocketknife. Once done, she grabbed up Blake's carrier and ran to the taxi, stopping once she grabbed the door handle.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going!" Her head turned to the door to see the thugs stepping out on the front porch. Once they began moving, she quickly entered the taxi.

"Drive! Now! Hurry!" The driver nodded and sped off just as the husky thug reached the taxi. He threw his hands up in frustration and quickly moved to the car. Sasha watched from the back window with satisfaction as they departed into the distance, the men wouldn't be able to catch her anytime soon.

She took another deep breath and looked to her son, her pride and joy. A smile graced her lips and she gently caressed her son's face and whispered her soft words to him. "Blake, there's only one person I can think of that might possibly be able to help. I don't know if we can rely on him, but…he'll have to do…I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're taken care of, my love."

Spencer watched with boredom as Sam and Freddie cuddled on _his _living room couch. He normally would be distracting himself with something and ignoring them, but lately he just couldn't come up with anything to do. All of his art pieces were growing wearisome as he constantly had to take them apart, nobody was buying them! Whatever he did manage to sell, he only received about five hundred maximum on. Usually it took him anywhere from one to two weeks to finish a project for someone. Thank god his father was pretty much his financial rock. The studio apartment alone was 1200 in monthly rent, at least that's how it started when they found the place on apartments dot com. All the damage caused over the years brought the price up to 1600, and it didn't help that Carly and her friends pissed off Lewbert every chance they got.

He leaned forward against the counter, raising his eyebrow as the happy couple began making out. He cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. "Hello, my couch!" Technically it was his father's, every dime he owned came from his father. Why? Well simply because his father still believed he was in _law_ school. Fortunately he managed to convince his grandfather not to tell Mr. Shay this news, because he knew his dad well enough to know that he developed a mean arrogant streak from his father before him. If he found out about all the stuff that had gone wrong, he'd cut Spencer's funding in a heartbeat.

Sam and Freddie parted their lips and looked at Spencer with a hint of guilt. "Sorry Spencer, we got a bit caught up in the moment," Freddie replied. Spencer shrugged as Freddie rubbed his neck cautiously. "We do that a lot, get really caught up…" He chuckled at the statement, he knew well what that meant. It happened to him several times, albeit with one woman. He was devastated when she left, apparently while she loved how artsy he was, she didn't think he really was all that mature. After all, he was in his late twenties, dropped out of law school, and was solely dependent upon his father's money.

"I hope you guys are careful." He spun around his counter and started to walk over to the two. "I can tell you, you'll get caught up in that moment and then what? One thing will lead to another and _boom_ you're stuck in bed without a condom on!" The two friends started to turn red and Spencer heard a chortling sound behind him. Gibby had been at the kitchen table and was probably now spewing chunks of chicken all over the floor. He narrowed his eyes and lowered his arms. "It's not meant to be funny. You have to be _responsible_. I mean seriously! Don't think you're an exception just because you're young."

Freddie smirked at Sam and put his arm around her shoulders, then lifted his head up to Spencer. "Okay Spencer, you mind if I ask you a personal question?" He paused for a brief second, unsure if he should worry about what _personal_ question Freddie might ask him. After a second, he shrugged his shoulders and Freddie shifted his body back a bit while Sam rested her head upon his shoulder. "Have you ever had sex? I mean you're almost thirty…"

He froze, blown away by the question. Had he ever had sex? Would he be a laughingstock if he said no? Then again, that would be lying and he hated to lie. His panic sensors were flaring as the statement caught him severely off guard."Wha-" He searched Freddie's eyes and let out a soft sigh as Freddie repeated the question. Sam playfully smacked him and told him he was being inappropriate. "Okay…_yes_ I've had sex before, but we were careful and responsible."

"Oh? No problems whatsoever?" Freddie's lips curled into a grin and he leaned forward. Spencer could see the excitement and curiosity inside the boy. "Who was she? What happened to her? Why aren't you together?"

"She uh…well, she didn't think I was all that mature. So we broke up. I mean, we dated for like…almost a month, got kind of close."

"Kind of? You must have been in love if you guys were, you know, doing it."

"Yeah…" He rubbed the back of his neck and felt his cheeks start turning a deep shade of red. They were starting to love each other, she said it to him first. He felt it, but was always afraid to say it. "She asked a big question, but we were kind of joking around. She said if it ever came down to it, would I get a real job and I…" He clicked his tongue as he watched both Sam and Freddie's faces twist in concern. "I said I probably wouldn't because 'my art could pay everything'. Of course, it probably _couldn't_, but what the hell right?"

Carly's voice hit him from behind and he turned his head to see her leaning against the stairwells, listening to the story with intensity and a laughing smile on her face. "Let me guess. Big fight started?" He closed his eyes and lifted his hand up defensively, sighing heavily.

"I know, I know, I was being stupid. Yes, she asked me why that was, I didn't really have a good answer and things just kind of escalated from there. She said we were through because she wanted out of a relationship, someone who was reliable. Someone she could depend on."

"And you were obviously not that person." Her nonchalant answer struck him where it hurt. He winced painfully and glanced helplessly at his little sister as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Don't you have homework to finish?"

"Yeah, then I came downstairs to get a snack, heard you talking, and decided it was more interesting."

"Go figure." What was this, roast Spencer hour? He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. A swift knock was heard at the door and he sprung to action, talking as he walked towards the front door. "Anyway, I was talking about responsibility. You guys are young, you probably don't understand just how important it is to be responsible."

"We _are_ responsible and we know better than to have sex," Sam remarked with a flat tone. Freddie nodded and folded his arms over. "You act like you're the most responsible person on the planet."

"I wouldn't say that, but I will say I do know how to be responsible and play it safe when it comes to sex in a relationship. If you're not careful, you could wind up with a-" As he grasped the doorknob and pulled the door open, his stunned eyes fell upon Sasha. What the hell was she doing here? He never imagined she'd be back here! What was that sound, though? A sound of joyous laughter was coming beside Sasha. His eyes drifted down and he froze. A two year old infant child, and it looked old enough to have been conceived around the time he and Sasha were dating. "-Baby…"

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><p>I wasn't trying to make it completely suspicious or surprising that Spencer was the father, so I wouldn't worry about it being "obvious" he was the father XD. Anyway, <em>ouch<em>, just as he's talking to Sam and Freddie about responsibility, this happens. Here we go, looks like Spencer's going to have to try to be the responsible one. Things are bound to go wrong pretty soon. Let me know what you thought, did you like how Sasha escaped from the thugs? How about Spencer's little responsibility lecture. Looks like we'll be seeing his full reaction to Sasha's return next chapter.


	2. React

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 2 (His Reaction)<p>

"Whoa is that Sasha?" Carly's voice pulled Spencer back from the trance he was in. He glanced over his shoulder and saw everyone but Gibby get up and move a little closer. This was not how he wanted to spend his day. He felt their inquisitive gazes boring into him, questioning and searching his soul for the answers they desired. His throat tightened as he moved his eyes to Sasha's.

"Hello Spencer." Her voice was soft, like satin, and calm like that of a mother. Her eyes held a certain level of sorrow. "It's been a long time…" His body began to shake and his eyes started to sting, he was fighting not to show any signs of distress. Not for the fact that she was here, but for the fact that he hadn't seen her in three years _and_ she had a baby. He saw her glance over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow, why did she seem to panic? "Can I come in? Can you make sure to lock the door? I mean…just lock it…"

"Sure…" Sasha walked inside and Spencer shut the door. He heard the others start cooing over the baby and quickly locked the door. He spun around to Sasha and let his eyes drift to the baby. His heart started pounding inside his chest, slamming against his ribcage. Who was the father? Who got Sasha pregnant? He'd find the person, and he would tear their head off. Who could be so irresponsible! He breathed in deep and folded his arms over. "Almost three years, my god where have you been?"

"Where do you think? I've been trying to raise our son…"

"Oh, I see-" His body froze as realization slowly dawned upon him. Everyone else stared at him with shock, having figured out the same thing. Gibby dropped his chicken leg on the floor and groaned. Spencer quickly shook his head and chuckled as he frantically rubbed his ear. "I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly? I thought you said-" Sasha reached for her back pocket and carefully pulled out a folded piece of paper. She handed it to Spencer and he unfolded it, then he started to pale to the color of his bed sheets.

"Spencer, this is Blake, your son." Spencer's eyes widened and he slowly looked to Freddie, no one knew what to say. He was half expecting Sam to say something about responsibility, in which, he apparently had none. His eyes turned to Blake and his hands began to shiver. She never told him? Why didn't she tell him? Why didn't she feel that she could come to him?

"I-I'm a father and you never even told me? Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? You're _sure_ that the baby-"

"Spencer. I was a virgin when we met and you're the only man I've ever slept with. You're the father." His stomach churned and his heart began to sink, he wasn't prepared for a family! He wasn't ready for this at all. His hands pulled at the birth certificate as they trembled harder, he was afraid he would tear the paper. Sasha looked afraid that he might push her out the door, but he wasn't going to do that. At least, he didn't think he wanted to throw her out. There had to be a reason she was here, wasn't there?

"You never…said anything?"

"I didn't find out I was pregnant until after the breakup."

"You _still_ could have called!" She diverted her eyes and Spencer ran his hand through his hair, a nervous habit that oddly did make him feel somewhat better. "Why the hell didn't you call me? I could have helped you! I would have loved to be a father." She moved her eyes back to him and countered with a gold glare.

"You made it _pretty__clear_ that you wouldn't give anything up for me, or anyone else for that matter, Spencer." The words shook him like a violent wind, practically blowing him off his feet and across the room. She lifted her finger and poked his chest. He winced slightly and rubbed the affected area. "You told me that you wouldn't give your lifestyle up for anyone. So when I found out I was pregnant, I figured you wouldn't want to be a father, you can't blame me there. So do _not_ blame me!"

"You expect me to say you had no part in it? If I'm right, _you_ left _me_, you never gave me much of a chance."

"We were together one month, and I gave you plenty of opportunities." He felt a simmering anger as his face flushed and his head started to turn red. Why was she even here, then? If she didn't want to be here, then what the hell was the point of all this? "You never gave me any reason to believe that you would be in any way mature enough to handle being a father."

"The hell I didn't, and if you believe that, then why the hell are you here? Feel free to walk right back out of my life if you want!" Sasha turned her eyes down and Carly cupped her hand over her mouth. "And before you tell me I have no right to be mad, I have _plenty_ right to be mad. You never told me you were pregnant! You never gave me a chance! So answer the question, why are you here?"

"Because I have nowhere else to turn…" He was blown off his feet once again and stammered in his response. He started to say something, but nothing intelligible came out. He saw the tears in her eyes and immediately he felt like an ass. "That's fine though, I'll just find another way…" She reached down for the carrier, but in an instant, Carly sped past and picked up Blake in her arms.

"Hold on!" Carly replied in a quick, disciplinary tone. Spencer and Sasha looked at her and felt their emotions beginning to simmer out. "Spencer, obviously Sasha's giving you another chance if she's here now, maybe hear her out?" He moved his eyes to Sasha and let out a quiet sigh. "And Sasha, try to be patient with Spencer, you guys shouldn't be fighting in front of the baby, anyway." She rocked Blake in her arms and looked down at him. Spencer rubbed the back of his head and felt a sense of unease beginning to rise up in him. "Now. Obviously something happened and I don't like being all that left in the dark, so…will someone _please_ explain to me what's going on? Last time I saw Sasha, she was going down the elevator…_when_ did you guys date?"

"After he got done with that sculpture he called me up and we went out." Sasha shrugged her shoulders and Spencer continued to gaze at Blake, trying to take it all in. How was he supposed to react to all this? Most men would jump at the chance to be a father, wouldn't they? He wasn't going to deny Sasha and Blake, he knew he couldn't just do that, so what _could_ he do? He felt a sudden hand upon his shoulder and jumped. He turned his head back and saw it was only Sam, nothing to worry about.

"So Spencer, I know it's probably the inappropriate time to say this, but I guess Freddie and I have you beat on responsibility." He scowled and turned his attention back to Blake. The baby's eyes moved to him and reached for him. Spencer's heart started to soften as Sasha moved to her son.

"Blake, this is your papa. Can you say Papa?" Blake's eyes glinted and a big smile came to his face as he tried to say _papa_.

"Pa-pa?" The child's words struck him in a tender spot of his heart. He lifted his hand to his chest as Blake waved his arms. "Papa?"

"Can I hold him?" Sasha nodded as Carly moved over and handed Blake of to Spencer. Blake looked into Spencer's eyes and made a small baby grunt. Spencer felt his heart beginning to swell in size as he studied his son. Blake was clearly his son, he had Spencer's eyes, his nose, his ears. Joy started to climb up inside him as it really started to hit him that he was a father. Sure, it wasn't fair that Sasha stayed away, but maybe he could understand why. "Hey there little guy, I'm Spencer. It's nice to meet you…" The baby laughed and once again Spencer was overjoyed by the infectious laugh.

Sasha stepped next to him and ran her hand through Blake's hair. "He started learning to talk when he was ten months. Walking, eleven…" Spencer nodded and felt a sense of pride and fullness rush into him, and it finally dawned on him that this was a serious life change. He _wanted_ to be there for his son. If Sasha thought he was irresponsible, maybe he could change? Maybe he could be more responsible.

"What made you finally come back..."

"No money. Made a bad decision trying to get money and now I owe money to someone…" Spencer's eyebrows rose as he held Blake close and felt the toddler wrap his little arms around his neck. Sasha's eyebrows shot up as Spencer beamed with awe. "Holy…Well, I guess he recognizes you as his dad."

"What do you mean?"

"Usually I'm the only one that can hold him without him fussing. I don't even know how Carly managed to do it…"

"Can I hold him?" Sam asked as she reached up to Blake. As she touched him, Blake broke out a loud wailing cry, causing Spencer to recoil and take a step back. Once Sam was out of the way, the toddler stopped crying. "Aw…what did I do?"

"Nothing, Blake doesn't trust a lot of people." A sudden jab hit Spencer in the heart. Those words echoed in his mind, as did her prior words about owing money to someone. What could make a baby cautious around someone besides violence against either it or its mother? He moved his eyes to Sasha and saw her eyeing the ground. She lifted her gaze up and smiled gently. As he studied her, that's when he saw it, a large arm band around her right wrist.

"Sasha…"

"Hm?"

"When you say you owe someone money…" He lifted Blake up and smiled at the baby. "Do you want Aunt Carly to hold you again?"

"A-Au-Auntie?"

"Yes, my sister, your aunt." Blake looked to Carly and smiled as she waved, he extended his arms to her and she happily took him from Spencer. "Okay…" He turned to Sasha and she took a step back, she'd seen him eyeing the arm band. He knew she never wore those, even back when they dated she expressed dislike for them.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking something…" He gently took her wrist and she winced as he lifted it up. The others watched in silence as he slowly pushed up the band, revealing a swollen and bruised wrist. A sickening feeling erupted from his stomach and bile threatened his throat. "Who, or what, did this to you?" He wasn't normally protective, but for some reason, seeing her wrist all puffed up the way it was made him want to attack the person who hurt her. He felt Sasha's body slump and looked up to meet her eyes, he could see she really didn't want to talk about it. He was going to press on. "Was it a boyfriend?"

"No, you're the last guy I dated, Spencer. I had a kid, no time for a boyfriend. I barely even had time for a job, clearly, considering I was fired from it." She lifted her eyes skyward and pulled her hand back from him. "That's just from a few days ago. You see, I kept having these run ins with these guys working for this loan shark…" He lowered his arms and felt his heart beginning to sink, he knew all too well what a loan shark was, and he _knew_ getting mixed up with one was bad news no matter what the cost. "One time in my life, I gambled…I had to think about Blake."

"And you borrowed money from a loan shark? What were you thinking?"

"There was no other options…"

"You could have come back here when you ran out of options in the first place, Sasha! I would have let you in!" His voice had risen beyond what he wanted, so he stopped himself and wiped his brow. "Look, I'm sorry, it's just…it's been three years and no word from you, you never told me I was a father. Why? Because you thought I wouldn't make a good dad?" She crossed her arms and turned away from him. Sam and Freddie exchanged awkward glances and looked at Carly, who appeared to be feeling uneasy about the situation. "Look, yes I loved my artwork, and I still do, but what started that fight back then…it was just a damn _conversation_."

"Spencer, I gave you a big part of myself and I knew that if we were going to be serious, I would have to be able to rely on you. To depend on you." She clicked her heel on the ground and spun to face him, her face was mixed with mild agitation and sadness. "I needed a man, not a boy depending solely on his father's finances. If you didn't have your dad's finances, could you even earn a decent living?" He lowered his arms and felt his throat clench up, he wasn't positive. It would be difficult, but he'd have to try to find a job, yet in this economy it would be rough.

"I could probably do it…"

"But if you _had_ to, Spencer. Could we rely on you?"

"I have no doubts about that." He watched her shift to the side, suspicion shimmered in her eyes and he could feel her searching into his very being. He moved his eyes to Blake and gently rubbed the back of his head. "Did you…Did you bring any of Blake's stuff? Diapers and all that?"

"No, I had some of my things ready, had a bag of all his stuff, but I left it back at the apartment. Those thugs came up and I had to get the hell out of there…" He swallowed hard and nodded his head, they needed to get baby supplies as soon as possible. He turned to Freddie and pointed at him. "Freddie, doesn't your mother have a bunch of baby stuff?" Freddie raised his eyebrow in response.

"Why would she-oh yeah…yeah she does."

He clicked his tongue and gestured his thumb to the door. "Go grab a couple diapers and some of the basic baby supplies. Someone needs to go to the store and grab some actual baby stuff. That can be our job, Sasha."

"Oh, okay…we could try to grab my stuff from the house. Well, it's more of a shack than anything."

"Whatever the case, we'll try it. Freddie, get moving please." Freddie nodded and left the apartment. "Do you feed him milk from a bottle or is he breastfed?"

"Either works usually...So, what are you saying, you actually _want_ us around?"

"I'm a father, Sasha. I want my kid to be a part of my life, yes. You too, if you'll have me…"

"Hm, we'll see if I think you're a good father, but I can't deny Blake the right to grow up with his dad…" Spencer beamed with pride as Sasha started walking past him and pushed his chest a bit. "Don't get all excited yet." He raised an eyebrow as Sasha knelt next to Carly and Blake. Blake met her eyes and cooed happily. "Blake, Mama's going to the store with Papa, will you be a good boy for Auntie Carly?" Carly pursed her lips and tilted her head.

"You're not taking him with you?"

"I want him to get used to you. Besides, I don't have a stroller…"

"Right."

Spencer folded his arms and chuckled lightly. "You don't think I can do it, do you Sasha?" She stood up and sighed, keeping her back turned to him. She smirked and slowly turned around.

"You want to prove it?"

"I can take care of you and our son…"

"Fine, let's see it. First things first, we need to get the baby supplies from the store."

"Fine. Let's go."

"Lead the way. Oh boyish man." Spencer narrowed his eyes and huffed as he turned towards the door.

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><p>Well tell me what you're thinking so far, <em>please<em>. Give me some critique, give me some input on the chapter as a whole. Honestly, I'm not about to do what I think is a good storyline if it only has one reader. Seems it's happening lately that people just want seddie fluff, no one worries about a good story that might have some drama in it. I'm testing the waters here.


	3. Attempting a Connection

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:I want you to know that Sam/Freddie _will_ have strong moments.

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><p>Chapter 3 (Attempting a Connection)<p>

On their way to the supermarket, Spencer would occasionally glance at Sasha, she hadn't said a word to him since they left. He didn't want her to doubt him, but he couldn't say he could possibly blame her. She had every reason to doubt him, especially with their last argument. He pressed his lips together as he pulled to a stop at a red light. He rubbed his thumb along the steering wheel and leaned back, sighing heavily. "You can't just ignore me forever, Sasha." He smiled at her and lifted his eyebrows, trying to think of something they could touch on. Anything. She closed her eyes and shifted her weight to the right against the door.

"I'm not ignoring you. I just have nothing to say to you. And yes, I know that I was the one that left you, and yes I know that you have every right to be ticked off with me for not telling you about Blake." Spencer pressed his lips together and turned his eyes to the stoplight.

"What did you think, I would just deny he was my kid and want nothing to do with him? You of all people should know I'm not like that…" She put her arm down on the arm rest and scoffed slightly.

"How was I supposed to know that? How am I supposed to know that you wouldn't start working on some sculpture and forget all about Blake?" That was a blow to his ego, but he was getting used to that. He didn't want to be like that with his family, he really didn't. Sure he'd have to get his priorities in order, but for the most part, he was certain where he wanted to stand. "You were just a boy in a man's body."

"I like to think that I'm a man…"

"Are you still relying on your father's money or are you holding your own?"

"I…" He winced and felt her stare on him. She was right, he hated to admit it, but he had to. He didn't have a job, his art wasn't bringing anymore money in, hardly enough, and his dad still thought he was in law school. He definitely didn't feel like a man with all that going on.

"Uh huh, that's what I thought."

He needed to think of a different subject, perhaps asking her about how her life had been up to this point. Though, she was struggling a bit before, but since she had gotten into that Pak Rat game again, she had been having a lot of fun with it. "Yeah well…what about you? Have things started looking up?" He winced as she slowly stared at him. What wording!

"What do you think?"

"Okay so I worded that wrong. I mean, is there anything _good_ going on lately? Have you been playing Pak Rat any?"

"Don't really have a lot of time for video games, nor have I _had_ any time. Believe me, I'd love to have some time to do those things, but I just don't." She bit her lip and glanced up at the stoplight. Once it turned green, Spencer started driving. "Hm, well…I know Carly's good with kids, so what do you say after we get the supplies for Blake, you and I hit the old arcade?" She raised her eyebrow as Spencer smirked, if he was correct then she would not turn him down. Not if she was still the same old Sasha he knew and loved. While having a child, it most likely changed people, it couldn't have changed someone _that_ much. "I got a high score on the old arcade street fighter game down there. I'm pretty sure you couldn't possibly beat my score." She rolled her eyes and looked away from him, but he could see her trying to resist that urge inside her.

"I could do it…" She spoke softly and kept her eyes away from him. He smirked and slowly shook his head.

"Nope, nope, nope, you look me in the eyes and tell me you think you could beat me." She closed her eyes and chucked. She hated being challenged and not meeting the challenge, Spencer knew this well. She slowly turned her head to him and glared sharply into his eyes.

"I _know_ I could beat your score. I told you three years ago, I practically raised myself in arcades, there's no way in hell your pitiful score would stand a chance against me."

"Yeah, you ruled at Pak Rat, but you're in _my _territory now. Remember who won the _last_ time?" She narrowed her eyes as he pulled into the parking lot of Wal-mart.

"Bring it. After we're done shopping, I'm taking you down."

About two hours later, Spencer and Sasha were driving into the parking lot of the arcade. They'd dropped the items off at the house and checked on Blake, it seemed he was quite taken with Carly, so they were able to let her keep watching him while they went to the arcade. Currently, Spencer was singing along to a song on the radio, not realizing Sasha was watching him oddly as he sang with _Tonight I'm Lovin' You,_ by Enrique Iglesias.

"Okay Spencer, I'm ready to kick your ass." He stopped singing at that and stared at her with uncertainty, was she talking about the game or real life? He could swear, with the way her eyes were burning him, that she probably wanted to do it in real life. How was he supposed to win her respect? Could he even do that? It seemed so simplistic, he ought to be able to get her to believe when he said he wanted to give his all to her and to Blake, as well as Carly.

"What's it going to take to get you to realize that I want to be with you guys? I mean, I'm willing to give everything just to make you happy…is it going to take something that extreme? I mean, I told you, I'm sorry for the things that I said back then. Why should it be so difficult?"

"I'm giving you a chance, Spencer. Give it some time. I'm just curious to see what you're like now…I don't really have much of a choice." His stomach tightened as she opened the door and got out. He put the shift into park and sighed as he undid his belt.

"Nice to know I'm just the backup plan for when everything goes wrong…" He muttered his words and left the car, his heart ached with longing as he watched Sasha walk ahead of him towards the arcade. Was it fair for her to be this upset at him? What was he doing wrong? Or maybe she wasn't upset with him, maybe it was something else. He placed his hand on his stomach and smiled vaguely as she stopped in front of the door and looked back at him with a smile of her own.

"What are you waiting for? Come on!" His eyebrows went up, she was _smiling_ for the first real time today. The sun lit her features and the light dazzled in her soft brown eyes, she was still attractive in every way. "Don't keep me waiting too long, I might get bored." He chuckled and started moving forward.

"I'm coming, I'm com-" He felt something hit his foot and let out a loud grunt as he stumbled forward, nearly falling onto the ground. He caught himself and panted as he stared at the ground with frustration, he _tripped_ on a damn _crack!_ He heard Sasha laugh and move over to him.

"Well Spencer, I have to say. I haven't heard that exchange in three years. If I didn't know better, I'd say you just got done with a really good time." His cheeks started burning as she smacked his back and walked with him inside the arcade.

"That. Was a low blow."

"I know, but admit, you enjoyed my tease." He chuckled and led her to the street fighter game, his mind was already reeling with ideas on some wagers. Some were not so appropriate, but some were small and innocent. There were also some ideas that he wasn't sure which they were. "So, have you thought up any bets for this game?"

"As a matter of fact, I have."

"Name it."

"I win, you kiss me and agree to start dating me again while I prove to you that I _can_ take care of you and Blake." He froze and smacked himself inwardly for speaking so quickly, he hadn't wanted to say _that_. That was one of those _inappropriate _ones! He was certain to catch hell from her now! He swallowed hard and watched her closely, she was standing there with a slightly bemused and baffled expression.

"Well…" She clasped her hands together and smirked dangerously after taking a deep breath. Her expression was relatively calm, a sign that maybe she didn't hate him. "Okay then. If I win…" Her eyes narrowed and he awaited simple doom. "Well, I'll let you know when the thought comes to me."

"So I don't even know what I could be getting if you win, huh? Could be good or bad…"

"Pretty much." He tugged nervously on his collar as Sasha turned to the arcade machine. He had no choice, he had to win this. Of course, why would they seriously base their whole future on one video game? Granted, how many futures happened due to a video game? "Come on Spencer. You're going _down_."

"We'll see who's going down tonight." He walked to the arcade machine and paused his hand over the controls. He clicked his tongue with embarrassment and closed his eyes, groaning inwardly at the choice of his words. What the hell was going on with him today? He looked to Sasha, she seemed unfazed by the comment. Her eyes were closed and her body relaxed. His mind trailed back to three years ago, the way she moved whenever she was relaxed, she always was incredibly flexible. She still retained the sharp wit as well, which was a plus in his mind. His heart steadied its pulsing as Sasha exhaled.

"Spencer. Just choose your character. I swear…"

"That came out wrong, you know."

"Choose. I want to get home to Blake soon."

"I'm with you on that." He clicked the two player button and selected Ryu, Sasha went with Chun Li. A classic matchup for the game. He was hoping that she was rusty with the game. "You'd better get ready for a double dose of defeat."

"Right. We'll go with that." Once the game started, Spencer was the first to charge into battle. He glanced over at Sasha as her character slammed his into the pavement, she had a damn good poker face. Then again, she always had that, whenever she was focused on a game, she would get so into it that she didn't look like she was really reacting.

"Do you hate me?"

"No." Spencer fired off a hadoken and Sasha dodged it with a jump. "I know I seem tense, but I have good reason to be today. I mean you have to think about what's been going on with me lately."

"I know…" They'd had that discussion already, he was scared for her when she told him she'd slashed those men's tires and took off.

"I'm sorry if I came off the wrong way, I don't hate you, Spencer…" Spencer eyed the game screen as Ryo fell to the ground, Chun Li was victorious in the first round. He had to focus. Round two begun with Sasha running her character over to him, he countered with a quick punch to the midsection. "Am I upset over what happened three years ago? Yeah, but does it keep me from actually caring about you or thinking about you? No." His heart lifted up and began to fill with hope, she was so into the game that she probably was just speaking her mind. It's what she did back then, she would speak her mind without really thinking, the best way for him to know how she felt about something. So maybe he still had _something_ to hope for. Then again, did it really matter? He wanted to win her back, the only question was _how_ to do that.

"You do seem like you hold it against me."

"I hold what you said against you. I mean you basically told me that your art was more important than I was and more important than a family would be. You were also continuing to lie to your father, and I don't know if he knows you're not in Law School or not…"

"He doesn't…" Spencer watched Chun Li fly back into the air, her life bar drained completely, he won one match. Now, it was down to the final match. If he was to court her in any way, he needed to win. "Both he and Grandpa think I'm an irresponsible screw up…"

"Go figure, huh? Those two…I wonder what you plan on telling them about Blake."

"I have no idea. I'm just thinking about right now…"

"You can't just think about what's in the now, you have to think about the future too. Always anticipate. Then again, you've never been one to anticipate what was coming."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. You probably have no idea what's going to happen in the next few minutes. If I were planning something, you wouldn't be able to anticipate it." He chuckled as he blocked a blow by Chun Li.

"Well if you weren't so hard to read, but then again, I've always loved that about you." Suddenly he stopped himself and heard her gasp. Chun Li's character hesitated for a split second, then shot forward. Spencer wasn't quick enough and his character fell, defeated. His eyes widened and his heart began to panic, he'd _lost_. He was now at Sasha's mercy.

He moved his eyes to Sasha and saw a very serious, yet blank, expression upon her face. She took a step back and turned towards Spencer, smirking slightly. "Looks like I win." He swallowed hard and turned towards her, his hands began to tremble as she tilted her head to the right. "I'm definitely going to enjoy this."

"So what's your punishment? What's your torture?"

"Hm?"

"What do you have planned? How are you going to get me back for the things I've said…or will you ever forgive me?"

"Maybe in time…I'm more concerned with my victory." He became disheartened, his confidence was shot. She took a step forward, her smirk growing in intensity. She lifted her hands up to his chest, for a second he thought she was going to push him away. "I'll bet you think you're quite the ladies man. How many girls have you dated since we were together?"

"Not that many, none of them really felt _right_…"

"I love how honest you are, you know that?" His eyebrows rose as she closed her hands around his shirt. "You're not dating any other women, got that?" He could take that, no problem. With Sasha, he'd rather be with her than anyone else. Suddenly she surprised him, she yanked him forward and kissed his lips. Her lips sparked a fire upon his lips and burned into his body. He gasped lightly and closed his eyes. He lifted his arms up and wrapped them around her, bringing some extra passion into the kiss.

What the hell was he doing? What was _she_ doing? He never expected this to happen, but he wasn't complaining. He tightened his embrace around her and deepened the kiss. The memories of the passion they had from three years ago came flooding into his mind, perhaps they still had it.

He could feel her heart melding with his, her soul slowly returning to his. His muscles tightened around her and the world seemed to disappear. Fortunately, there hadn't been anyone in the particular area they were in. He moved his dominant hand up to her hair and grasped it gently as she pressed him forward against the game. He wanted to hold on to her forever.

The past seemed to evaporate as they slowly sank to the floor. Spencer sat against the machine as Sasha moved her hand to his chest and pulled her lips away. He opened his eyes and gazed back at her with great longing. Her eyes were wet with tears, they broke his heart. They'd been separate for far too long, and it had been killing them both, not just him, and he could see that in her eyes.

"W-we shouldn't be doing this, Spencer…"

"Sasha…" They heard a janitor's radio outside of the room, it was playing off _Far Away_, by Nickelback. That song struck him in a soft spot, it always had. Sasha glanced at it briefly before moving her eyes to his. She let out a single sob as she traced the frame of his face with her hand. "I'm sorry, for the things I said. I never should have…I've regretted that all this time…Then you said you didn't want to be with me anymore-"

"It was an impulsive decision, I'd been going through some stuff then. When you never called me, I kind of figured you'd moved on already…" He pressed his lips together as she slowly moved her finger to his lips. "I…I needed that. I wanted it."

"Even though you don't think I'm capable of being there for you and Blake?"

"I don't know, I worry, just…" She moved to his shoulder and circled her index finger in his shirt. "Hold me for a little bit. Let me feel you."

"Okay." He moved his arms around her as she slowly closed her eyes and breathed out softly. "Does this mean…you're willing to date?"

"Yes. I just…I think there's some pretty big factors to talk about."

"We'll talk about them soon."

"Okay, good." Right now they just wanted to hold on to each other. After a minute, another Nickelback song started to play. This janitor really enjoyed Nickelback. The song was _Feelin' Way Too Damn Good_. He chuckled inwardly and breathed in Sasha's vanilla scent. What could possibly go wrong? Though in the words of the great band, he was definitely feeling way too damn good just cuddling her in his arms. It was strange, usually the songs by Nickelback that made him think of Sasha were _Far Away_, and _Someday_, he'd be happy to add this one to the list now. His lips curled upwards and he tightened his arm around Sasha's waist as she cuddled closer to him. Who knew an arcade would help them see eye to eye again? One thing he knew without a doubt, and hoped she felt the same way, he still loved her.

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><p>I hope you liked this, tell me what you thought of the arcade. No this doesn't mean things are completely okay between the two of them, but at least they're making some headway.<p> 


	4. Don't Anger Old Enemies

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 4 (Don't anger old enemies)<p>

Carly let Blake walk around in the studio as Freddie started up the camera, they were going to do iCarly now. She was wondering where Spencer was, since it had been a while, but it was fine by her. She, Sam and Freddie had already set up the baby's crib, as well as put up the other baby supplies that Spencer and Sasha dropped off before running off to the arcade to settle some kind of bet.

She felt something tug on her pants and looked down with a smile as Blake peered up at her. "Aw, what's up Blake? Do you want to see Auntie Carly's show? You know your mom and dad will be home soon, right? We're going to introduce you to the show." Gibby was in the car chairs positioned in the back, his arms were crossed and his eyebrows up.

"I don't know, Carly. Don't you think it would be a better idea to ask Sasha first?" She shrugged and lifted Blake off the ground. She hugged him close and grinned as Gibby tilted his head to the right. "So does this mean we don't use Spencer for the baby clips anymore?" She flattened her gaze and quickly turned around, she didn't want to do anything that might endanger little Blake's digestion system.

"We can if he feels up to it, I don't want Blake doing those things. Spencer can handle stuff like that, Baby Blake can't." Blake looked up curiously and turned his attention to Sam, who was standing next to Carly with the blue remote in her hand. He laughed and pulled the remote from her, surprising her. Once Blake tried to put the remote in his mouth, Sam started reaching.

"No Blake, that's not to be eaten!" Carly gasped and quickly turned away, placing her hand on the blue remote. Blake started to pout.

"No, no Blake, it's okay…" She met his eyes with a gentle kindness and sat down on the ground, placing him in her lap. He moved his finger to his mouth as Carly held the blue remote in front of him. "This is not a toy, Blake. It could be harmful if you were to put it in your mouth." She had a feeling he probably would understand, but even if he didn't, he'd have to understand that she was telling him it was wrong. She thought it would be better to be calm rather than scold him.

"Who knew you'd be so great with kids, Carls…" Carl looked up to Sam with a smile and shrugged. A pleasant feeling washed over her as she hugged Blake and rocked him.

"You shouldn't yell at a baby, they won't understand. Besides, Sasha already said he was scared of most people. Which I don't understand…" She placed her hands on Blake's sides and stood him up, smiling into his eyes. "He likes me and Spencer. Don't you Blake-y?" She cooed and made baby sounds as she rubbed her nose with his. Blake laughed gleefully and Carly grinned. "See, you wuv your Auntie Carly, don't you?"

Blake laughed and Carly let him go to run around. "I wuv Auntie." She gasped with pride and placed her hand to her still beating heart as Blake hopped off her legs and started to run towards Gibby. Gibby raised his eyebrow and looked down at the kid. "Gib-by."

"Yeah that's my name, kiddo. Are you a fan?" He watched with amusement as Blake climbed into the car. "What do you think your grandpa's going to say when he sees you, Blake?" He knew that Carly's dad watched iCarly now. Spencer got _quite_ the talking to whenever he appeared on iCarly, due to his father thinking that he was being too 'silly' for a lawyer and asking how he was handling all his responsibilities. This is what worried Gibby just a bit, but he wouldn't say anything since Carly seemed to think nothing would come of it. "I think he'll be in for a shock. I know we were."

Carly looked back to Gibby and gasped when she saw Blake in the car seats, her heart pulsed and she rushed over. It was too dangerous for him to be in there, he was small and he might hit his head on the top! "Blake, it's too dangerous for you in there. I don't want you getting hurt." Blake turned to Carly and lifted his arms up.

"Auntie."

"That's right." Carly smiled and lifted Blake out from the car chairs. Gibby sighed and raised his eyebrow.

"I wouldn't have let him get hurt."

"I know, but you can't ever be too careful with a little baby. I told Spencer and Sasha I would watch him, so I fully plan on doing that." She walked over to Sam and smiled at Blake, she wanted to try to get him to ease up to Sam and Freddie. He already had been doing that so far, so it wasn't a total hopeless case. "Blake, do you want your Aunt Sammy to hold you?"

"Yay!" Blake through his hands into the air and Sam gasped at him, smiling and holding out her arms.

"Oh my gosh, it's a baby." Sam laughed happily as Blake but his arms around her neck and she wrapped her arms safely around him. Freddie glanced up and chuckled as he eyed her.

"You know Sam, I think that paints a perfect picture of what you'd be like with your own children. You'd probably make a great mother."

"I don't know Freddie, I'd be worried about turning into my mother." He paused for a minute and shook his head.

"Nah, I don't see it." Sam blushed and rocked Blake side by side, humming a soft lullaby. Carly hurried to grab her bottle of water on the stool in the center of the studio. The show would be starting soon and she had absolutely no idea what to say. She had a feeling the others might be worried about her dad, but what could he do to them? He was going to find out about Spencer's child anyway, so why not just introduce the child to him. She knew he was often hard on Spencer, but he couldn't possibly be hard on the guy this time around, could he? Thinking on a parent's reaction, she thought of Freddie's mom and chuckled before taking a sip of her water.

"Hey Freddie, what was your mom's reaction when you went looking for some extra diapers and stuff?" Freddie looked up at her and became extremely pale.

"She asked me how long I've really been dating Sam for, then started to lecture me on having sex." Carly practically spit the water back up, laughing tremendously at the situation. Freddie narrowed his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table. "Hey, be careful, I could turn this camera on at exactly the wrong minute you know. I'm sure you don't want to be embarrassed."

"Hey, no blackmailing your friend."

"Wasn't blackmail, 'twas a promise." Carly chuckled as Freddie glanced to the computer screen and back. "Okay iCarly's starting, get ready." Carly jumped for joy and Sam quickly moved beside her, bouncing Blake in her arms. "Okay, in five, four, three, two-" He clicked the camera on and Carly started out her greeting.

"Hi, I'm Carly! Future pioneer!"

"And I'm Sam! This is _not_ my baby!" Carly laughed and Freddie slowly shook his head, smiling at the two. Blake eyed the camera while twirling his index finger in his hair. "So don't worry Mom, I haven't done anything wrong."

"Yet." Carly joked and Sam cracked up laughing. "And in case Freddie's mom is watching, don't worry! Freddie's not a father yet! Though who knows, he could be one day." Freddie cringed visibly and the entire apartment seemed to echo with a long, droning, scream. Freddie tilted his head and chuckled nervously.

"Thanks Carly, my mom's worst nightmare, _me_ growing up." He turned the camera to himself and closed his eyes, wagging his eyebrows once. "I'm more responsible than that, by the way." Carly hummed lightly and lifted her hand up.

"Uh Freddie, you might not want to use that word right now."

"Huh? Why?" She didn't want her dad hearing 'responsible' then hearing Spencer had a baby two years ago, all in one sitting.

"Some people may just blow a gasket."

"Ah. I got it." He turned the camera back around as Gibby walked over to the group. He side stepped in between the two girls and pointed his thumb to himself.

"Gibbeh." The girls grinned and Carly jumped towards the camera.

"So a whole bunch of news for you iCarly fans! This marks one of the first anniversary of when we met that Nevel Papperman!" Sam clicked the blue remote and a 'boo' sound echoed throughout the room. Blake looked up and laughed giddily. Carly ran her hand through her hair and gushed. "Aw, he takes after his family! No one likes Nevel anymore, do they Blake-y?"

"Nebel no like."

"Exactly. You tell it like it is!" Carly turned her attention back to the camera and smirked. "iCarly's still going strong, too. You hear that Nevel? My little nephew doesn't like you all that much either." Gibby smacked his forehead and Blake soon copied him. Carly looked over as Blake continued to smack himself in the head, thinking fast she moved in and placed her hand in between his hand and forehead. Blake stopped and looked up at her with innocent eyes.

"Auntie?"

"Now now, you don't want to hurt yourself. You shouldn't smack yourself like that, because you might get hurt. Okay?"

"Okay. Wuv Auntie."

"Aw, I wuv you too!" Carly took Blake into her arms and grinned as she held him close. She was no longer thinking about iCarly or about anyone else, her entire world was focused on the toddler in her arms. She started making baby sounds, causing him to laugh. Sam, Freddie, and Gibby eyed each other with slight smiles and glanced up as the projector screen started rolling down. Sam's brow furrowed and she quickly looked to Freddie.

"Are you doing that?"

He frowned and hurried to the controls. "No I'm not, what's going on?" Suddenly a light turned on and Nevel appeared on the screen.

"iCarly!" Carly gasped and looked up at him, the others frowned and moved a bit closer. Nevel placed his hand to his chest and gasped. "Surprised to see me? I thought you might be." Carly stepped forward, holding Blake at her side and watching Nevel closely.

"What do you want, Nevel?"

"Nothing. I just want to talk. I don't remember seeing a toddler in your place recently, who's kid is it?"

"Spencer's…" Nevel's eyebrows rose and he eyed the kid for a moment. Carly winced inwardly and closed her eyes, she really hadn't wanted to let that slip like this.

"_Spencer_ had a kid? He's not even married, much less, he doesn't even have a girlfriend! I'm shocked! But then again, he never really was all that responsible." Carly narrowed her eyes as Nevel grinned and leaned back in his chair.

"What are you doing, Nevel?"

"Oh just dishing out a bit of…Revenge!" He smacked his hands on the counter and leaned towards the camera, smirking dangerously.

"And so you insult my brother? Besides, it's none of your business how he got the kid…" Nevel chuckled and looked at his fingernails, gently shaking his head.

"I'm guessing he knocked up some girl and decided to run away from that like he did the law school, always fleeing from his responsibilities. Am I right?" Carly gasped and cupped her mouth. The others stared with wide eyes and immediately began trying to turn Nevel off, but it was to no avail.

"You take that back!"

"Oh that's right, he's been telling Mr. Shay he's still there. Oops, my bad." Nevel placed his fingers to his lips and bat his eyes innocently. "Looks like I spilled the beans there. Oh don't worry, I'm sure Spencer's doing something right with his life, besides sculpting that worthless junk that no one buys anymore."

"No, you listen here-" She set Blake down and looked into his eyes. "Blake, go play around a little, okay? Your Aunt Carly has to talk to this guy." Blake understood and ran over to the side of the room where some toy shapes were. He sat down and picked them up, trying to put them in the matching holes. Carly adored this innocence. She smiled brightly for a second, then cleared her throat and turned to Nevel.

"So which woman's the one Spencer screwed? Two, no, three, considering the age of that kid. There would have been nine months…" He tapped his chin and his face became sadistic. He clasped his hands together and grinned evilly at the screen. "Ah, that would be around the time that gamer chick came over, huh?" Carly bit her lip and turned around, she was close to tears. These words were hurting her and she was almost certain Nevel was going to put them in a whole bunch of trouble. "The kid is two, am I right?"

"Y-Yes…"

"So. Aside from dropping out of law school, acting rather immaturely and silly on your little webshow, as I'm _sure_ he's done that a million times, nearly destroying your apartment several times thanks to his little 'inventions' as you call them." Carly's stomach clenched as she watched Nevel do his air quotes and rant on. She was doing her best to remain calm, not wanting to say or do anything bad with Blake in the room. "Lied to his father, pretty much lied to his grandfather too. You don't think I wouldn't have found out about Gibby and Spencer running through the museum, trying to put a sculpture in that hadn't even been allowed? It was all over the news, hell, it was the reason people stopped buying his artwork! They started thinking he was desperate!"

"You stop talking about my brother like that! I don't know what you're doing, but-"

"Why it's simple Carly. I'm going to either have your little webshow shut down or I'm going to _own it_. If it takes pissing off your brother enough to make him want to shut down iCarly, so be it." She growled and clenched her teeth tight.

"It's not Spencer I'm all that worried about…but I suppose it doesn't matter now. Spencer's not done anything wrong-" Nevel leaned forward, smirking triumphantly.

"Tell me, how did the baby fall back into Spencer's hands? Did the mother find him?"

"Not your business. You have no right to reveal all of his secrets on iCarly you know!" She looked back to her friends, all of them were doing everything in their power to turn off Nevel. "Why isn't he going away?"

"Oh don't worry Carly, I put a little hack in, there's no way to turn me off. Oh, and yes, I plan on ruining iCarly, and I plan on ruining _you_ Carly Shay!"

"There's nothing you can do to me!"

"Oh ho, we'll see about that. I hope your brother's able to get a real job."

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?"

"I wouldn't call it that. More like, warning." Nevel started laughing evilly until Gibby decided to take a risk. iCarly would be ending a bit earlier than intended. He grabbed the power cord and quickly pulled the plug from the wall. With that, Nevel vanished. Carly began to shiver as fear and unease settled in. What was Nevel's purpose? What did he know? What could happen?

"Carly…" She felt Sam's hand on her shoulder and quickly shrugged it off. Sam pulled her hand back as Carly looked at her apologetically.

"Guys, could you give me a minute?" Her friends slowly nodded and left the room. She placed her hand onto her stomach, it was churning and twisting inside of her. It felt like it was ripping into shreds. She dropped to her knees and closed her eyes. Why was it Nevel always scared the hell out of her? She felt a small tug at her shirt and looked over to see Blake eyeing her with an sweet and concerned expression.

"Auntie Carly? Hurt?"

"No…I'm okay Blake." She breathed out and smiled as she sat down. Blake crawled into her lap and hugged her shoulders.

"No cry Auntie. No cry." She sniffed and wiped her eyes, then hugged her Nephew. She wouldn't cry, though on the inside, she was screaming. She'd _just _let everything about her brother spill out. She prayed her father wasn't watching tonight's show. If so, they could be in a bit of trouble. What was the worst their dad could do, though?

"Blake, who could possibly resist your adorableness?" She snuggled him close and smiled happily. Who knew, cuddling a baby really did make the soul feel more at ease.

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><p>Well, this could be a turning point in the chapter, Carly accidentally pissed off Nevel and Nevel bit back :o.<p> 


	5. Spencer's Decision

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 5 (Spencer's Decision)<p>

Spencer and Sasha entered the apartment and hoped no one would be too gravely upset with them for getting there a bit later than intended. The first thing Sasha wanted to do was check on Blake, as it was getting near his bedtime. It was almost seven, the manager of the arcade woke them up around six to six thirty, somehow they managed to fall asleep in the arcade. Sasha was the one who told Spencer not to speak of what happened, but he was the one beaming with the triumph that they actually kissed again after so many years.

The atmosphere of the house seemed a bit dreary for Spencer, he looked to the kitchen table and saw Freddie, Sam, and Gibby just sitting around it. Each of them seemed both bored out of their minds and rather upset about something, it was unnerving for him, it meant something happened and he wasn't here to diffuse it. Where were Carly and Blake? Panic began to sink in as he started imagining the worst. He moved to the kitchen and everyone looked at him with guilt in their eyes.

"What's going on, why are you guys so upset? Where's Carly and Blake?" Freddie and Sam simply shrugged their shoulders, which concerned him even more. When it came to those two feeling down and in the dumps, something serious had to have happened.

"Up in the studio," Gibby replied. His voice was very quiet, almost hushed, as though he were holding something back. Spencer remembered the group had iCarly to do today, so maybe something happened. He nodded and looked at Sasha, who was looking at the group with the same basic amount of concern. He motioned to the studio and started heading upstairs, she followed behind him. As they made their way into the studio, they saw Carly snuggled up with Blake. Spencer let out a sigh of relief and smiled as the site touched his heart, he was happy to see how well she was getting along with her little nephew. He cleared his throat and Carly lifted her head up, her lips fell into a frown when she met his concerned gaze. Blake hopped from her lap and walked over to the two.

"Mama, Papa!" Sasha smiled and lifted Blake from the ground.

"Hey baby, did you have fun with Aunt Carly?"

"Yes."

Carly moved to her feet and continued to stare into Spencer's eyes. He studied her face for a moment and started to feel the same sense of dread coming over him. He knew her expression well, her sunken eyes and frown lines, something terrible happened, but what? Blake seemed perfectly fine, so nothing happened to the baby. When they entered the house, they saw the crib put together and no supplies for the baby were left out, so nothing went wrong there. His ribs felt as though they were constricting his heart, the longer he thought about what could have possibly gone wrong, the tighter his chest became. "Carly, what happened? Why is everyone upset? Does it have anything to do with Blake?"

She shook her head and moved her eyes to the computer. "No…" Her voice broke and her eyes lit with fresh, frustrated tears. "It's iCarly. Spencer, you're going to hate me…please don't hate me…" Spencer and Sasha exchanged confused glanced and he quickly moved over to his little sister, she needed to be comforted, and now.

"I wouldn't hate you, I could never do that. Just tell me what happened."

"I think I may have pissed off Nevel or something, cause he hacked into our webshow and we couldn't shut him up." Nevel? _Nevel?_ There was a name he hadn't heard in a while. He knew what that kid was capable of, so it was valid reason to panic. "I just wanted to introduce Blake to iCarly." His blood ran cold and he quickly hurried to the computer with her, he needed her to fire it up as soon as possible. Sasha glanced over as Blake held onto her left shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Dad watches iCarly, that's what's wrong." Her eyebrows shot up and she quickly hurried over to them. Spencer waited as Carly started to fire up the video, he frowned when he saw Sam holding Blake at the start of iCarly. He _had_ been hoping to tell his father a bit differently. He watched as Carly and Sam started talking about Nevel, then revealed quite abruptly that Blake was his son. "Okay, I was planning on coming up with some way to tell dad about Blake, now this is just a slap in the face to him if he sees this…What else happened? You said Nevel…"

"Give it a minute…" Carly closed her eyes as the screen went down on iCarly and Nevel appeared. Spencer took a deep breath and placed his hand on his stomach, where on earth might this lead? Carly had just willingly pissed Nevel off, whether or not she was trying to do that. It didn't seem unfathomable that he would try to do something. "Spencer, I'm sorry. I let him reveal _everything_…we couldn't stop him…"

Spencer's face tightened as he listened to Nevel and Carly's argument. Sasha gasped as Spencer was accused of some highly irresponsible stuff, including _his_ being the one who ran out when Sasha had her baby. "It's okay." He began to shake as he turned his head to the side, he really wanted to hit the guy, but thought better of it. Besides, what would hunting the prick down do anyway? Stir things up? "We're just going to leave this alone. If Dad sees this…well he's going to be ticked off because most of those allegations are true."

"They are?" Sasha asked with a raised eyebrow. He knew she might be hinting at the irresponsible side of him, so he rolled his eyes in response and turned his head to her.

"They're all in the _past_, anyway." The corner of her lip tugged upwards and Spencer felt a fluttery sensation in his stomach. He turned his head over and sighed. As he closed his eyes, he saw Carly smirk at him.

"So how was your date?"

"Not. A date." He growled the words out and stared at Sasha. She smirked at him as he leaned his palms against the table while looking back to the computer. "It was a bet, I think I lost, but I'm not sure."

"Oh? What was the wager?" Spencer's face started to heat up and Sasha's eyebrows lifted, taunting him. He hung his tongue at the corner of his lips and looked off to the side away from Carly and Sasha. Sasha hummed and poked Blake's chest playfully, while gently swaying side to side. Carly looked between the two of them and raised a curious eyebrow. "You…Is there something I should know about? What _did_ take you so long?"

"We, uh…" He slowly rolled his eyes upwards, then to Carly, he was struggling to find a way to word what was running through his mind and surely running through hers. "Let's just say the arcade itself was boring." Sasha was always the blunt one, the more logical one and better at sentence structure than he was. For instance, thinking back, he figured she would have had a better reason for Freddie to not lie to his mother about his relationship with Sam than he had given.

Carly threw her hand in the air and scoffed. "And that tells me nothing, I want to know how it went!" A chuckle left his lips and he gazed off as the daydream started to return to his mind. Holding Sasha, kissing her, cuddling her close after all these years, it sure brought back memories and emotions. If this was her way of giving him a second chance, he didn't want to screw this up.

Sasha lifted her eyes and smiled at Carly. "We came to a mutual understanding." Carly raised her eyebrows and Spencer slowly closed his eyes, he moved his fingers to his temples. It was not hard to see what would happen next, Carly was almost always overdramatic. "That, and we fell asleep at the arcade…_not_ intentional, but your brother got a bit too comfortable, which didn't help me because I was…" She stopped herself and Spencer smirked at the blush appearing at her cheeks. Carly's jaw dropped and her hands flew to her mouth as she took a quick intake of air.

"You mean you're not mad at each other anymore?" Spencer winced inwardly as he saw her growing smile hidden beneath her fingers. He took a deep breath and rolled his head to the side. "I'm still a little irked it took her three years to tell me she was pregnant, all because of my 'immaturity' back then." Sasha closed her eyes and chuckled dryly as Carly's eyes widened and her smile went down.

"Well excuse me, I apologized for that didn't I? I didn't think you were fit to be a father, and I still haven't seen much change."

"Well excuse me, you've only seen me for a few hours after three years of not seeing me."

Carly yelped and screamed out. "No!" Spencer and Sasha looked at her with arched eyebrows as she reached forward and placed her hands on their arms. "No fighting, _please_. You two are parents, you have a baby, we're a family!" He turned his head back to the computer and sighed, the screen was frozen on Carly pointing to Nevel. He held his breath and narrowed his eyes.

"Don't worry, I don't hold it against her..." Sasha arched her eyebrow and Carly slowly lowered her arms. They watched him closely and waited patiently as he stood straight and pressed his lips firmly together. "Hearing Nevel put all that stuff together, saying it all at once…" His stomach churned as he moved his eyes to Sasha. He turned fully to her and stepped in front of her, gazing firmly into her soft brown eyes. "It makes me sick, but I imagine you were right before. I was irresponsible." She frowned and moved her eyes to Blake, the toddler was asleep on her shoulder.

"I already told you…"

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm trying to get my art approved at the museum, but nobody's really wanted it. I'm living off my dad's money because I can't find a job that suits me, and I'm pretty sure my dad's going to be pissed now that he knows I'm out of law school. I'll try to talk to him about it when he calls, assuming he does."

"Maybe you can work something out…"

"I can't do it alone, Sasha. You being here, me being a father…I_want_ to be with you. I want to be Blake's father. Maybe if you'll give me that second chance, I might 'grow a pair' as you said back then." He smirked lightly, remembering the argument they'd had and playing off it. Her eyes widened momentarily, then shrunk to normal as her lips slowly curled into an upwards smirk.

"We already had _that_ conversation too, Spencer."

"No, you told me that 'you'd see how things turned out'. If there's something I know, Sasha…" He placed his hand on her side and continued gazing into her eyes, not _fully_ aware of his actions. Carly gasped and cupped her mouth once more, watching her brother intensely. He never showed this side before, at least not very often, but he wanted to show her that he was completely serious about his intentions. "Blake needs a dad, you need a man, and well…I need you. I need you as much as you need me. I do still love you, Sasha, and you have to believe me when I tell you…I'd do _anything_ for you and for my son. He's not just your son, and I don't want him to grow up without a father…" She gasped and revealed in her eyes, the shock that hit her with those words. Once she cleared her throat and collected herself, she took a deep breath and spoke.

"Is this your way of proposing to me?" Her eyes were glazing over, a sight that he'd not seen from her in such a long time. Being a mother must have done something to her, maybe she really believed she couldn't do this alone. His heart swelled. He _would_ be that safety net, he would take care of his son and he would take care of her. He smiled at her and carefully lifted his finger, swiping away the water in her eyes. He felt her body tense and relax as he did this, it was like nobody had shown her such a sentiment in so long, had she really never gone into another relationship after him?

"No, it's my way of asking you to _trust_ me first." Lowering his arm, he kept his eyes with hers. Her chest rose and he moved his eyes to Blake, who was now sucking on his thumb. Pride shot through him as he closed his eyes and pictured himself watching his son grow up, playing ball in the yard and being the father that he needed. "Give me a chance to show you that I _can_be a father. Give me a chance to prove to you that I can take care of this family. You, Blake, even Carly…you all can depend on me."

He glanced to the side as Carly looked at the hammer in the wall of the studio, they _still_ never took that out. Even Sasha remembered its legacy. He cleared his throat and Carly returned her gaze to him, smiling innocently. "We will _ignore_ the hammer in the wall. That's all in the past, and I'm going to prove it!" With her free arm, she moved her hand to his arm and relaxed her body as she took a step closer.

"Then prove it. I agree with you, I think Blake needs his father here too, and I'm more concerned with my-" She stopped herself and locked her eyes into his, smiling softly. Spencer's eyebrows rose and his heart seemed to pause with great anticipation, was she about to accept him as part of their son's life? Her life? "Excuse me, _our_ child's happiness than my own. It would be appropriate to marry, I just don't know…" His heart leapt up into his throat and he nearly shouted out for joy, somehow he managed to keep it inside and not embarrass himself this time.

"I won't let you down, I promise you. We could lose it all and I _still_ would fight for you and Blake."

"You think so? Maybe…Either way, it's seven o'clock, I think we're all hungry, Blake needs to go to bed…so let's put Blake in his crib, have dinner, and go to bed."

"Yeah…let's do that…"

Carly looked about ready to scream, but not in any emotion other than pure joy. It was enough to make them forget about what Nevel did. Spencer clicked off the computer and looked over at Sasha and Blake. It didn't matter what Nevel did or said, the kid was just a prick with no life, he wouldn't manage to get anything done.

A squeal caught him off guard and he quickly looked to Carly, she was _way_too ecstatic. "I can't wait to tell Sam and Freddie!" His eyes widened as Carly bolted out the door. He chuckled nervously and watched Sasha walk by him and click the elevator button. She turned to him and motioned for him to come over, he happily obliged.

"I hope you know you're sleeping on the couch tonight, Spencer." She smirked as the doors opened. His jaw dropped and his body froze. Did she just claim his bed? Granted there was no other bedroom, but that just wasn't fair!

"Did you seriously just do that?" She stepped into the elevator and continued looking at him with that never fleeting smirk.

"Do what?

"Take my bedroom?"

"Oh. Yes. Yes I did. You see, _I__'__m_ the mother with the baby. _You__'__re_ the hu-" He raised his eyebrow and smirked as she stopped herself. She snapped her fingers quickly and let him step into the elevator next to him. "You're the man who got me pregnant."

"Which you never told me about."

"So what?" She replied in a singsong voice, staring out into the studio as the elevator beeped. He smirked with a witty comeback shooting into his mind.

"You know, if it weren't for Blake, I'd kiss you."

Sasha raised an eyebrow and scoffed, holding her daring smirk. "I'd like to see you try without my hand landing on your face and my foot in your precious man jewels." He cringed and paled as he moved his hands to his crotch. So painful, so very cold and painful. He could just feel her triumphant grin upon him. He groaned lightly as the elevator doors closed.

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><p>Hope you're enjoying ti ^_^. This story's going to pick up relatively soon, a lot will be happening!<p> 


	6. Remember how it felt?

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: This chapter has a song 'Remind Me' by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. It's sung karaoke style, lyrics will be in italics.

Here it is, the sixth chapter, but bear in mind, I still have five stories going on at once (some nearing completion). I've also started externship with the Medical Assisting and my hours are 9 to 4 Monday through Friday, be patient my friends, I will get these chapters out to you.

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><p>Chapter 6 (Remembering)<p>

After dinner and some karaoke that Spencer pulled out from the closet, Sam and Freddie had gone to their respective homes while Carly was in Spencer's bedroom, rocking the baby's crib. Spencer and Sasha were sitting on the living room couch while Gibby remained in between them, still singing karaoke. He was an impressive singer, Spencer had to give him that much. He looked over to Sasha and smiled peacefully, he'd spent practically the entire night trying to court her all over again. It felt so great to do that all over again. She didn't seem to complain, but rather, enjoyed being able to take a break from watching over Blake, alternating with everyone in doing so. She still worried about every noise she heard from the bedroom, which was why Carly was in there.

Sasha applauded Gibby's performance as the song came to a close, but Spencer was too distracted to remember such a menial task. He acknowledged Gibby with a nod, but kept his gaze upon Sasha as the youth said his goodbyes and departed for home. She was still so damn beautiful with her silky hair, her firm arms and her slender body. Her personality attracted him the most, she was so strong, so driven, so genuine and of course her sarcastic wit was always appreciated. She seemed so oblivious to his courting, or rather unaffected. He wasn't going to give in though, not until he got an actual _I love you_ from her. Though that might take some time, he just wanted her to know that she really was the only woman he saw.

"So what are you looking at?" Her voice enriched him and surprised him, she hadn't even turned her head. How did she know he was looking at her? Was he that obvious? He thought he was being rather casual about it. Then again, he was sitting on the end of the couch with his arms spread like an eagle on the top of the couch and his legs up on the coffee table, his head was actually turned almost all the way towards her. He closed his eyes and chuckled lightly.

"Well, I don't know. I'm just remembering you the way you were three years ago and the way you are tonight. Time has been good to you, you're just as beautiful and more so." She chuckled and turned her head to him. She rubbed the back of her neck and brought her hair over her shoulder, brushing it and turning him on.

"Still trying to get your bed back?" He closed his eyes and lifted his eyebrows. He pulled his legs back and set them on the floor while leaning forward.

"Oh this isn't about that bed."

"Oh _really_ now?" She smirked and tilted her head. "Then what exactly _are_ you thinking of?"

"Oh nothing. Just memories." He leaned his head back and sighed, his chest thumped with each memory of their relationship together. How he missed her, how he missed that feeling. He really only got a glimpse of it before. As he turned his head back and looked at the karaoke screen, he saw the cursor on _Remind Me_ by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. His eyebrow arched up and he looked towards the door, had Gibby planned that? He chuckled and glanced back into Sasha's big brown orbs. "You remember when we met, that nerd who flirted with you?"

"Yeah…" She chuckled and started to braid her hair. "I slapped him and then Barry whacked him with the microphone." Spencer nodded with a smile as he saw her gorgeous eyes and delicate fingers tenderly working at her braid. "I remember after all that, I didn't think you'd actually call me up."

"And I did." He smacked his lips and slowly stood up. Sasha's eyes flicked up to him and he met them with a graceful grin. "You remember a week into our relationship? We were so damn close. You remember that feeling we had?"

"Maybe…"

"We felt so strong, going so fast but we were in love weren't we?" He watched as she slowly shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes. Her hands stopped working on her hair and lowered to her lap. His heart pulsated and his hands trembled as his eyes turned to one of the microphones on the coffee table.

Bravely, he reached down and picked up the microphone, then smacked it on his hand, selecting the song. As the music played, her eyes flew open and his lips turned up. She lifted her head up as he brought the microphone to his mouth. "What are you doing, Spencer?"

"Doesn't it seem obvious? Feel free to sing along, Sasha." He moved towards her, confidence brimming in his eyes as he sung out in a deep voice, keeping in match with the words. Sasha's cheeks turned red as she watched his expression. That confidence was what attracted her to him in the first place, she remembered that. "_We didn't care if people stared, we'd make out in a crowd somewhere. Somebody'd tell us to get a room, it's hard to believe that was me and you!_" She laughed lightly and gasped as he took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She yelped as he caught her waist and held her close. "_Now we keep saying that we're okay, but I don't want to settle for good, not great. I miss the way that it felt back then and I wanna feel that way again."_

"Spencer…" He walked around her and gently caressed his fingers over her shoulders and across her neck. He could feel the goosebumps on her skin as she shuddered under his touch.

"_Been so long that you'd forget the way I used to kiss your neck."_

She breathed in deeply as she recalled the feeling of his lips caressing her neck, the way it used to send chills down her spine and turn it on. Thinking on the memory, she sang along, softly at first, and with longing. "_Remind me. Remind me."_

"_So on fire, so in love. Way back when we couldn't get enough."_

_ "Remind me. Remind me…"_ He moved his hand down her arm and gently kissed her neck, once more sending those shivers running along her spine. She opened her eyes and watched the words go along the screen. Her heart was beating tremendously and the temperature in the room seemed like it had just skyrocketed. "_Remember the airport, dropping me off? We were kissing goodbye and we couldn't stop."_

"_I felt bad cause you missed your flight."_

The next line, Sasha turned around and met his eyes, singing along with the line. "_But that meant we had one more night."_

She closed her eyes as Spencer circled her and took her hand, lifting it up and kissing it. Her arm seemed to light aflame, and the fire was speeding towards her chest, igniting her as she sang out her part. "_Do you remember how it used to be? We'd turn out the lights and we didn't just sleep."_ Oh yes, they remembered that, the many nights they would just caress each other and snuggle under the blanket.

"_Remind me, baby, remind me."_

_ "Oh so on fire, so in love. That look in your eyes that I miss so much..."_ She caressed his face and gazed into his strong, confident eyes. Immediately they took her back. She moved her hands to his chest and pushed off, taking a few steps back and swirling around.

"_Remind me, baby, remind me."_ He breathed in as he watched her spin once, her hair seemed to follow her body perfectly as her clothes fluttered about in the wind. He stepped towards her, tightening his grip on the microphone. "_I wanna feel that way-"_

_ "-Yeah I wanna hold you close."_

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, pressing her back against his chest. She exhaled softly and pushed her hands along his forearm as she turned her chin just above her shoulder and looked back at him while singing the next line together. "_Oh if you still love me, don't just assume I know."_

She took his hand, placed upon her abdomen, and gently pulled it off. As she did so, she spun from his grasp. She tucked her hair behind her ear and placed her hand over her chest, closing her eyes and singing out. "_Baby remind me, remind me. Do you remember the way it felt?"_

He smirked as he stepped behind her and glanced at her over his shoulder, these lyrics meant so much to him and fit them so perfectly. Aside from the airport verse, every single line, every single word, every single verse and stanza, wasn't just words on a screen to him. It was his heart, he hoped she was understanding that. _"You mean back when we couldn't control ourselves?"_ Her eyes flew open and she moaned as the memory of their first sexual night played in her mind. They were wild, they were crazy, and they were in so much love.

"_Remind me-"_

_ "-Yeah, remind me."_

She turned back to him, sweat was running down her body and she hardly even moved. As for him, the light was just glistening off his sweat covered body. "_All those things that you used to do that made me fall in love with you…remind me, please god remind me."_ He caught the change in the lyric and felt it play his heart as she put her hand above hers. He stepped close to her, gazing with great intensity into her eyes. She gasped as he held her eyes, as though her very soul was reflected in her eyes.

"_You'd wake up in my old t-shirt, all those mornings I was late for work. Remind me."_ She moved her arms over his shoulders and locked her eyes with his, moving her head close to his. "_Remind me."_

_ "Remind me…"_ He gently tossed the microphone onto the couch and pulled her waist towards him. She yelped and her hands landed upon his chest as he wrapped his arms up around her. She breathed heavily as he slowly placed his forehead against hers. "…Spencer…"

"Yes?"

"That song…" She closed her eyes and breathed out. He closed his eyes and took in her intoxicating air. The tips of their noses barely graced each other and their lips hovered just mere centimeters from the other. "I…I suppose now wouldn't be a good time to joke about how you still have the couch tonight…"

"Not really, but you can if you want. I don't mind at all. Personally, I plan on sleeping on that mattress behind the couch."

"Oh? When did you pull that out?"

"Sam and Freddie did a while ago…" They opened their eyes and pulled their heads apart. He smiled at her and felt her body quivering in his arms. He could hold on to her forever, but he knew they didn't have forever. At least, he could hope they did. "So…I hope that brought back some memories for you…" She bit her lip and looked down, then gradually back up to him.

"Is that what you were hoping for?"

"Not necessarily, but it's still a nice touch to reminisce isn't it?"

"Yeah…yeah it is."

Out of nowhere, he heard something hit the floor. His head snapped to the side and he saw Carly trying to sneak to the stairs, she'd hit one of the toddler's toys by accident. She chuckled nervously and the two quickly separated. She frowned and looked at them guiltily. "Don't stop on my account. Honestly! I'm going to bed."

"It's okay Carly. It is time for bed anyway." Sasha nodded and looked to the bedroom.

"Yeah, I need to check on Blake. Goodnight guys." Spencer frowned as he watched her hurry into the bedroom. Carly said goodnight then hurried upstairs. He breathed in and exhaled sharply as he moved to the front door, made sure it was still locked, then turned out the lights. After several minutes, he was laying on the mattress, on his back and with his hands behind his head. He gazed up at the ceiling above him and smiled as an age old memory came to his mind.

_Slow dancing, her arms were around his neck and her chin was upon his shoulder. He had slightly long hair at the time and was dressed in his formalwear. They were at a fancy diner, which oddly, allowed music to play. The song was 'Tonight I Celebrate My Love' by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack. _

_ Sasha had her hair held up and bore a blue dress that drifted down to her ankles, ending in frills. She had white gloves that reached to her elbow. Her eyes sparkled with a pure love in him, they'd been dating for a whole month now. "Spencer, I think this may be my new happiest moment ever."_

_ "When was your first?" He whispered his response and smiled as they followed the two step swaying style. Sasha lifted her head from his shoulder and moved a bit closer to him._

_ "Meeting you for the first time." His heart shot up and his cheeks started to turn red as they gently placed their foreheads together. It was like an act of passion between them, coming so close, that almost kiss. _

_ "I love you, do you know that?" _

_ "I do."_

_ "And do you love me?"_

_ "Always…" She lifted her head up and closed her eyes as he gently kissed her lips._

Spencer turned onto his side and sighed as he replayed that memory in his head. It was one of the last times they were happy together. It wasn't long after that, they broke up because of some stupid words that never should have left his lips. He traced his fingers as he slowly brushed them down the edge of the mattress. It really wasn't all that great of a mattress, not as good as the one on his bed. This one was old and usually kept in a storage room upstairs. It was the first mattress that he and Sasha slept on, though, so he could never part with it. It filled him with dozens of memories though, as well as longing. After three years, he understood why he wasn't sleeping with Sasha, but he still missed her.

After a few minutes, just before he would have dozed off to sleep, he felt the bed's weight change. He raised his eyebrows as he felt someone wrap their arm around him and cuddle close to him. "Sasha?" He rolled over and met her soft and wondrous eyes. "What are you…" She closed her eyes and cuddled his chest. His heart swelled up as emotions began to flood his body and tears nearly threatened him.

"I do remember, Spencer…I do." He smiled and wrapped his arm around her. She hummed lightly and exhaled softly. "Just don't think this means…that I'm completely attached yet…I just-"

"You miss it too, don't you." The cuddling, the love, the romance, she had to miss it all. He slowly closed his eyes and tightened his embrace, there was no way he was letting her go. He felt her kiss his chin and smiled as the area of the kiss spiced up his chin.

"Yes, I miss it." It was not long before they were falling asleep. Carly might be in for a surprise the next morning if she walked into the living room and the two were together, but they couldn't help if their emotions made them tied together.

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><p>Such a sweet moment, such a sweet, sweet chapter. I hope you enjoyed this! Sorry I haven't uploaded this in a while, I was getting caught up with other stories going on at the same time, still am, so again, bear with me as I do this. I'm loving these stories, take great pride in them, so I hope you enjoy them just as well! ^_^<p> 


	7. Mornng Freshness

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 7 (Morning Freshness)<p>

The next morning, Spencer awoke with his arms around Sasha and her head nestled in the space just under his chin. He smiled softly and looked to her and gently rubbed her arm as he watched her take a sleeping breath. She looked so innocent, so sweet, perhaps it was the most peaceful night she had in years. He hoped so, since this was indeed _his_ most peaceful night of sleep. Never in his mind had he imagined he would be holding her again.

She was warm in his shirtless arms, her soft body was curled up and her knees were resting towards his waist. Her hair had fallen in front of her face, so he gingerly reached up and pushed the strands of hair away. "You are so beautiful." His words came out a whisper, he wasn't sure if she would hear them or not, but he wasn't too concerned. He just wanted this moment to remain like this forever, no matter how impossible that was. The second she woke up, she might possibly get up away from him and not touch him for the rest of the day, but that was fine. He would just keep courting her.

He felt her hand slide up his chest and just above his beating heart. Slowly he put his hand on hers. He debated waking her up, but at the same time, it was the last thing he wanted to do. When is the right time to awaken a sleeping beauty? He looked up to the window, the sun was shining in so beautifully and caressing her body, bathing her in wonderful, golden light. It reminded him of the time they fell asleep together in the park, cuddling up beneath a tree and gazing up at the sky. The sun bathed them both and seemed to warm their souls.

"We were so happy back then…" He ran his hand along her hair and gently caressed her forehead with his lips. "We'll be happy again, I promise." He felt her wondrous breath upon his chest and his heart began to swell. Her arms guided around his body and he peered down to see if she was awake. Her eye movements beneath her eyelid told him she was in the middle of the REM, or dream state, of sleep. "What are you dreaming about, baby…I hope it's nothing bad."

Then he noticed a certain aroma coming to his nostrils, it smelled like someone was making spaghetti. He rubbed his eye and sighed as he turned his head to the kitchen. Sam and Freddie were at the table, he had his arm around her shoulder and she was resting her head upon his shoulder. Carly was in the kitchen, stirring a pot while Blake was sitting in the high chair next to the table, eating some mashed potatoes and soft, practically mashed carrots. "Hey Carly, I think Spencer's waking up," Sam stated as matter-of-fact. Carly looked up from the pot she was stirring and smiled as the food aromas continued to hit him.

"What time is it?" His voice was groggy and his body still felt extremely tired. Sam swirled around in the chair and hopped off.

"It's actually just a little after noon, I think you and Sasha were really comfortable."

"It was so _cute!__"_ Carly proclaimed with a cheery tone in her voice. Spencer chuckled and watched Freddie move over and put his arm around Sam's shoulders. "Now guys, I'm starting to feel a little left out here." He tried to process the idea of Carly having a boyfriend, meeting a guy like he was with Sasha, then his eyes turned to Blake. He chuckled for a moment and returned his gaze to his little sister.

"Good. I don't think I'd be ready to deal with that." He slowly and carefully sat up, hoping that his movements wouldn't wake Sasha. He slowly lifted the covers and looked down at his body, he was wearing some pants, but no shirt. Freddie smirked and tilted his head.

"You guys decent under there, Spence?" His cheeks burned and he snapped his head to Freddie like the snapping of a belt.

"We didn't do _that._ Anyway, what are you two doing here, you know you don't live here right?" He really did get annoyed just seeing them over every single day, but who was he to complain when Carly had her friends? Yet, for them to be over twenty-four seven, it just seemed a bit out of place. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you two are here because I'm happy Carly has friends, but now that you're a couple…you'd think you'd do _other_ things?"

"Oh why would we do that, Spencer?" Freddie folded his arms over and looked to Sam with a subtle smirk. Her lips turned to a smirk and he leaned in to kiss her lips. After a brisk moment, he pulled away, Sam sighed as he turned his head to Spencer. "Why do that when we can annoy you on a daily basis?" Spencer smacked his forehead as the young boy laughed with satisfaction. He sighed with pity and gave Freddie a begging, questioning look. "What is it? Got a problem?" He was going to get him eventually. One day, vengeance _would_ be his.

"What did I ever do to you?"

"Oh nothing, you just make it incredibly easy to make fun of."

"Screw you."

"So you can't come up with a comeback there, huh Spence?" He rolled his eyes and slowly stood up from the mattress. As he did, he heard Sasha moan. He winced and looked over at her, did he wake her? Her eyes opened and flittered up to him. He saw her cheeks go red as she quickly sat up. She had on a purple night gown with spaghetti straps that went down to her knees, one of the few clothing items that they bought for her at the store. It had a floral design on the right bottom corner of the gown, she fell in love with it immediately after seeing it. It was priced a bit too high, but Spencer bought it for her anyway.

"When did I crawl into this bed?" She dodged Spencer's eyes and slowly tangled her finger in the blanket. He raised his eyebrow and watched as she looked frantically around the room. "Where's Blake? What time is it?" Her eyes landed on Blake eating his brunch and her face softened at the sight. Her voice lowered and her lips formed a gentle smile. "He seems so at peace." She turned her head to Spencer and her eyes landed upon his chest. He raised his eyebrows and folded his arms over. "So uh…"

"You're denying that you crawled into bed with me last night? We cuddled up all night you know." He watched her cheeks burn even more and reveled in his triumph. "God you're beautiful when you blush." Her eyes widened and her cheeks became even redder than before. "If your face gets any redder, you might explode, you know. Here…" He bent over and extended his hand to her. She slowly placed her hand in his and he quickly pulled her up. With a yelp, she landed pressed against his chest, with her hands flat on his breast. He smirked and met her eyes while wrapping his arms around her waist.

Freddie and Sam glanced at each other with arched eyebrows as Sasha slowly moved her hands upwards along Spencer's chest and around his neck. Carly stood next to them with her hands over her mouth, squealing happily. "Hey uh, Carly?" Freddie looked to the spaghetti and back to her. "You may want to check the noodles now."

"Eek!" She bolted from the group and hurried to the stove to continue stirring them. Blake watched and giggled happily. "Spaghetti's almost done guys! Checking the sauce now…"

Spencer's heart begun to melt as Sasha lifted her eyes into his. His body warmed as she moved a bit closer to him. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, possibly thinking about the situation she was in. He was feeling rather euphoric, and he loved it. He was struck with uncertainty, should he kiss her? Should he hold off? He wasn't the type to just wait for her to make the move, he would make the move himself. If he kissed her, she might slap him, but it would be worth it.

No, just holding on to her was enough. "Sasha, stay with me. Don't leave me. I promise, I will _not_ let you down." She opened her eyes and looked up at him, he could see the worry and concern rushing around inside her. He knew she was uncertain about her feelings, it wasn't hard to see, no matter how hard she tried to conceal that confusion. "Give me that chance to show you, to prove to you, I can be that _man_ you need in your life and the father that Blake needs." He was bursting with emotions on the inside, hoping and praying that today would be the day she saw him as a man and decided not to leave him. He feared her taking Blake and walking out that door again, he had to prevent that from happening. "I love you, I love my son, and I'll do anything in my power to protect you both."

"I…" She exhaled softly and placed her head on his shoulder. He smiled softly and looked up at Sam and Freddie, he could see they were enjoying the moment. They had proud expressions on their faces and decided to imitate the duo. Sam put her arms around Freddie's neck as he embraced her waist and lightly kissed her lips. Spencer felt a sense of pride erupt inside him and turned his eyes to Carly, who was watching the couples with joyful tears in her eyes and her hands over her heart. Blake was watching them closely and had a smile on his face. Spencer had actually been wondering how Blake was so easy with him, why he didn't seem timid at first.

"Hey Sasha…"

"Yeah?"

"How come Blake seemed to already know I was his dad? I mean, he's given me no trouble and trusts me with you."

"Oh." She lifted her head and smiled at him. "I had a picture of you…" His eyebrows rose in surprise and that inner pride seemed to settle in on his heart. She kept a photo of him? Really? Maybe this girl really did love him. "I would show it to him every day…then I'd show him iCarly and tell him about you two…was that wrong?" Carly gasped softly and kept one hand on her chest while lowering the other, her tears became fresh and Spencer was slowly being filled with more and more love for this woman.

"No, not at all. I'm…I'm glad you still thought of me and didn't keep Blake from knowing who his father was."

"Don't think it was easy telling him why you weren't around." She moved her arms from his neck and took a slight step back as he slowly tilted his head back. Not this discussion again. He tapped his fingers on his pants and pushed his thumbs into the pockets.

"You can't expect a toddler to understand something like that."

"I know. Did you know that even though he's only two, he draws a lot better than most kids his age…" Spencer's eyebrows rose and his lips curled upwards.

"Now that is amazing." She nodded and turned to Blake with a smile.

"I know, I'm so proud of our son."

"Hey…" He moved up behind her and slowly moved his arms around her waist. As he did so, he felt her melting back into his arms and leaning against his bare chest. "Is it just me, or is it getting easier for you to say he's _our_ son?" He smirked and flexed his muscles a bit, showing them off to her. She cleared her throat and walked forward.

"Easy there macho, I only say that because he is our son. DNA wise, you've contributed the one thing necessary to make you a father."

"Ouch. Just remember that I wasn't the one _unwilling_."

"Oh I'll remember that. As long as you remember, you still have to _show_ me."

"I think I will. I got an art sculpture that I need to work on, but I think I'll push it aside because I want to make sure I give my son everything he needs."

"Oh and you'd actually do that?"

"I would actually do that." He folded his arms over his chest and smirked as Sasha looked back to him. When their eyes met, sparks flew. "There's no way in hell I'm going to settle for being a _father_. I'm going to be a _dad_ and perhaps…" A smug expression grew upon his face as Sasha arched an eyebrow with curiosity. "A husband as well. No way I'm letting you two slip through my fingers, not this time."

"Go Spencer!" Freddie belted out his cheer with a fist bump in the air. Sam laughed and playfully smacked him on the head as Sasha slowly stared at the two of them. She smiled gently and returned her gaze to Spencer.

"How about you go get dressed and we'll go from there."

"Fine by me. By the way, I usually go to Pine Park down the street during the mornings and walk around. How about you and Blake get ready after lunch and we'll go down there." He tilted his head to the right and smirked at her, already he wanted to pull her into a little bit of family bonding time.

"Okay, sounds fine. Maybe Carly can join us?" Carly gasped and a grin immediately plastered her face.

"Oh can I? Please Spencer, please?" She _was_as much a part of the family as Blake and Sasha were, so he saw no reason for her not to come along. Though Sam and Freddie could do other things. He rubbed the back of his head and looked at the two friends.

"Yeah I don't see why not, but Sam and Freddie…I'd rather you two hang out here if that's all right? I mean, wherever, but if you hang out here, try not to…eat everything in the fridge…" At that, everyone looked to Sam, who chuckled nervously.

"What? I can go without eating everything in the fridge."

"Right…"

Carly laughed and turned off the stove, both the noodles and sauce were done. "Okay guys, spaghetti's coming up."

"Awesome!" As expected, Sam was the first person to run to the table. The others shook their heads and moved over to the seats. This would be their first lunch as an almost whole family, and Spencer _was_ feeling pretty good about that. Just before sitting down, he heard Sasha clear her throat.

"Spencer…get a shirt on." He had forgotten about that, but wasn't about to let that embarrass him. He nodded and tapped the back of the chair as he lowered his head next to Sasha and whispered into her ear.

"Well, if it distracts you so much, I'll be more than happy to go throw a shirt on." The joy of triumph came when her cheeks turned a bright red color. He stood straight and grinned as he turned and hurried off to his bedroom.

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><p>Hope you enjoyed this chapter, seriousness will start next chapter.<p> 


	8. Spiral Downwards

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 8 (Spiral)<p>

What was he doing? He was never like this before, but maybe it was true what people often said, about how being a father changes people. He was still as witty and seemed silly too, but he had a distinct charm about him as well, a strong point that kept her coming back for more. He seemed so serious, granted this was a serious matter, but she didn't expect him to be so serious. So yes, it came to her as a shock.

Then again, what was _she_ doing? Kissing him, going out with him, crawling into his bed unannounced and cuddling up to him? What was going on!

Sasha gripped the handles of the blue stroller and kept her eyes in front. Carly was walking in front of them while Spencer stayed next to her, she could hardly fathom the change and determination that he had in himself. All things considered, she loved him. She never _stopped_ loving him. She came back to him with the thought that she wouldn't worry about falling for him all over again, but for some reason, she let her guard down and failed. He managed to get her all over him like a lost puppy. She needed to back up, but at the same time, she didn't _want_ to. She was accustomed to running, could she really run away after this? Her heart slammed into her chest as her eyes drifted over to Spencer. He was looking at Blake and making silly faces, causing the baby to laugh. Carly was spinning around in front of them. The girl was just too excited to be an Aunt, it was very relieving to see her so happy and full.

Spencer looked up just as Carly tripped over a root and caught her balance. "Hey Carly, you probably should watch where you're dancing." Carly's cheeks went red as Spencer smirked teasingly and walked off towards his little sister. Sasha stopped walking and gazed at Spencer and Carly with a subtle smile. A family walk in the park, it felt a lot better than running around or being alone. She almost didn't want to leave. She truly didn't want to, she wanted to be with Spencer, but how likely was it that he could be mature enough to be her man? Mature enough to be a father? How did she know he wouldn't just dash off the minute a prospective buyer called about his art? Not that she didn't think it was _good_ that he could sell his art for money, but he needed a real job. Whether it was a lawyer, or something else, he needed something that would _pay_. She pressed her lips together and sighed. There weren't many apartments in Seattle with rent less than one thousand dollars.

"Spencer?" Spencer and Carly looked over to her and she slowly breathed in. "How much money does your art make you?" What would happen if his dad cut them off? Would he? After Nevel's big reveal, chances were the man would be pissed. She was nervous and afraid of that man, and she'd never met him before. Spencer rubbed the back of his head and Carly hurried over to Blake, playing with him. It was such a subtle way of telling Spencer that he was on his own.

"Honestly? Nowadays I'm lucky to get any project requests during the week. On average I get about three requests for a sculpture." Right, he did mention still waiting on the museum to accept his artwork, but they were wavering. She bit her lip and felt her heart beginning to sink. She would hold her tongue, even though she didn't like his relying on artwork and his father, she wasn't going to say anything more about the art. She hated fighting with him. "On average, depending on the size of the project, I could get fifty to three hundred dollars, usually it takes a week to finish a project. That's why I work almost all day…" He still had to finish the project he was working on before, but he was here with them instead. Did that show for anything? Sure. Spencer's eyes moved downwards and his voice lowered, just enough that she could hear it. "For this studio apartment, and all the 'accidents' that have happened, rent's become about three grand per month."

"What? Really?" Her eyes grew large and her voice rose just a tiny bit from the shock. She held back, not yelling at him. She didn't have the heart to do that, but how could he be so irresponsible? "Why? Why did you allow all the damages? What other damages happened?"

"Well…Carly's room burned down, numerous fires have occurred, there are holes in the walls, our elevator's busted up, and Lewbert's just plain irritable and impossible to talk to." Sasha's jaw fell and the color seemed to fade from her body. Spencer swallowed hard and a frantic expression grew on his face. "I'm not that bad anymore, though! I promise…I am responsible." She closed her eyes and started walking, pushing past him with a small huff. Spencer extended a hand and sighed. "Sasha…is she mad?"

Carly frowned and pat his back, then started to follow Sasha. "Well Spence, I'd say you just got in trouble." Spencer sighed and hurried over to Sasha, walking directly beside her. She felt his body heat rubbing off on her, bringing her own temperature up. She turned her eyes to him and frowned. "Sasha, you know, or well…I can tell you…you're looking for a man that can support you, support Blake, and I'm telling you that I _am_ that man. I will do everything in my power…I'll even go back to law school!"

She stopped abruptly and locked her jaw tight. She turned her eyes to his confident, concerned gaze, and exhaled. She lifted her hand and curled her fingers towards his chest, not touching him. "Spencer, I don't _care_ if you go back to law school or not." He lowered his arms and pursed his lips. "I just want you to get a real _job_, a _career_. Something that would pay the rent. Your dad isn't going to be alive _forever_! Hell, he might not even be supporting you forever. If your rent is at three thousand, there's no _way_ you can afford that and still support a family. As for college, I remember you said you had a bachelor's degree, right?"

"Yeah, Criminal Justice degree…" Sasha smiled and slowly nodded her head. There was a chance he could work as a security guard somewhere. If he really wanted to, he could be a security guard at an art museum, she would support that, and he could be around as much art as he wanted. He once thought about teaching, but he'd have to go through college for four more years to be an art teacher, he would need to get a bachelor's degree in education and art. "Sasha, if it means that much to you, I can look around for a-" He was cut off by his phone's ringtone blaring out from his pocket. She flinched and looked down as Blake started crying from the loud noise.

"Ugh, answer the phone, I need to tend to Blake." She reached into the stroller as Spencer flipped open his phone and walked off. She lifted their son up and started bouncing him in his arms. Her voice softened as she tenderly kissed Blake's forehead and whispered to him. "It's okay baby…it was just daddy's phone." Her eyes flicked to Spencer as he started trying to calm his caller down, it sounded like the buyer of the sculpture he was building. She rolled her eyes briefly and turned to Blake, gazing into his bright eyes. She began to sing him a soft lullaby, hoping it would comfort his tears.

Spencer and Carly watched her as a gentle breeze blew against them. They smiled and met each other's gaze. Spencer lowered his arm, ignoring the frantic caller on the phone. After a second, he shook himself from his trance and brought the phone back to his ear. "I'm sorry, I'll have to call you back…" He closed his phone without another word and pushed it into his pocket while moving to Sasha.

Sasha tensed, then relaxed as she felt his arms around her waist. She turned her eyes to him and smiled as he rested his chin on her chest. Blake cooed happily and Carly hurried over to the three, grinning as she gazed up at them. Sasha's heart was bursting in her ribcage, she could make almost a musical tune out of it, but that was only if she could manage to concentrate on anything other than Spencer's hot breath on her neck. She let out a shuddering breath and moved her eyes back to Blake's. "Who was that, Spencer? Art buyer?"

"Yeah, A pissed off one at that. I'm working on a sculpture that needs to be ready by tomorrow evening. I'm only half done." She frowned and her heart began dipping. She couldn't ask him _not_ to do his work, but she really wanted him to spend time with them. "I don't think I can get it done in time, and the buyer is an important artist himself…I'm just going to have to call him up and tell him I won't be getting it done in time, ask him either for an extension, or nothing."

"Why?" She turned to him and furrowed her brow. "Why would you not get it done?"

"Because…I have a son and a _wife_ to take care of, along with my sister." She closed her eyes and exhaled sharply. It was irritating for him to refer to her as his wife, but at the same time, she was flattered, because it showed that he wanted to be there for her, that he did in fact, love her. "The only way I could complete it in time is to spend all of the rest of this night, then all of tomorrow on it, and I just can't do that to you." He moved his hand and gingerly cupped her cheek. She steadied her breath and held Blake closer. "I won't do that to you or Blake, nothing to lose you two again. I made a promise to both of you, and I fully intend to keep it."

"Spencer…this might be one time you _should_ work on the art. Blake and I…we aren't going to go anywhere right now." She would give him the benefit of the doubt, and why shouldn't she? He deserved that much, after all the hell she was giving him, after having kept Blake out of his life for two years. "We'll be fine, I want to get to know Carly a bit more as is." Carly grinned and quickly nodded her head. "Keep in mind there's a line that you need to know when it's okay to cross, and when it isn't okay to cross. You need to be wise in balancing your hobbies, your work, and your family. Sure, I don't want Blake growing up without a father, but I don't want him growing up with an _absentee_ father. There's a line, you just have to be careful." He smiled and too her hand in his. She felt her cheeks go red and her body start to sway to the side.

"If it isn't too soon to say…I love you." Her heart shot to her throat and she slowly closed her eyes. God, if he kept saying that to her, he'd have her wrapped around his finger. She wanted so badly to tell him how she felt, but she was scared. She was afraid of someone leaving someone, she was so used to being alone.

"You've _been_ saying that, Spencer." Her eyes opened when she felt his hand brush her cheek. His strong, confident gaze melted her tender and anxious one. Carly reached up and took Blake in her arms, then bumped Sasha forward into Spencer's arms. She yelped and tried to look over, but couldn't tear her gaze away from him.

"I know you're afraid of getting hurt, not sure about me, and no matter how many times I tell you that I'm with you, you're not going to know it until you see it. I can promise you, I'm not going anywhere." She swallowed the lump in her throat and moved her hands gently upwards along his chest. "No matter what, baby, I will find a way to support you and Blake. I will. I am not going to hurt you." Her arms drifted to his shoulders, then around his neck. How could he promise her all that? God she hoped he meant every word, his eyes were so full and honest, he had to mean it.

"I guess…we'll see about that, then."

A few hours later, they made it back to the apartment, but they walked in on a surprising sight. Sasha's eyes widened as she froze in the doorway, Carly clenched up and Spencer let out a terrible shout. The house had been ransacked! The couch had been flipped over, Spencer's sculpture destroyed, papers and drawers were emptied out on the floor, and there were even more dents in the walls. The refrigerator doors were wide open and food was strewn out along the floor. There w as tissue paper rolling down the stairs, along with more papers and linens. Sam and Freddie were standing on either ends of the couch, watching back with wide and fearful eyes. They had red, raw marks around their wrists, and tears in their eyes. "What happened here?" Spencer asked as he stared at the two of them.

"These men…" Sam's voice was so quiet that a pin drop might have been louder. Sasha's heart crushed as realization soon dawned upon her, she'd left Spencer's photo in her house. Mr. Clayton's henchmen probably saw it! If so, they were here. "They came and tore the place apart, they tied us up in the studio. They said they were looking for Sasha…" Guilt hit her as Spencer and Carly turned their eyes to her. She took a step back and slowly shook her head, contemplating running. No. She couldn't run from everything. That wasn't the solution. What would Spencer say, though? That she was too much of a danger? He caught the look in her eyes and put his hand to her shoulder. She shied away and swallowed hard.

"I-It was Mr. Clayton's henchmen…the Loan Shark…remember, I said I borrowed money to try and help with rent and so forth? They want their money back, I ran from them when I came here…They must have seen your picture in my house." Spencer lowered his arm and slowly nodded his head. He looked like he was thinking seriously about something. She held her breath as he turned and ran his hand through his hair.

"It's okay Sasha. We're in this together now, okay?"

"Together? I brought them to you, I shouldn't have…I probably should-"

"I'm not letting you go anywhere, so don't finish that statement." She stifled herself and watched him turn sharply in her direction, looking fiercely into her eyes. "We can deal with this. Maybe, just maybe, I can find a way…but you're done running, okay? I'm not going to let you run."

"Spencer, these men are _dangerous_! They've already hurt Sam and Freddie, I don't want them to hurt you or Carly."

"I won't let that happen, Sasha. Now…" He started moving towards his busted sculpture and Sasha breathed a sigh of relief. When had Spencer become so stubborn and determined? She watched him closely and felt Carly push her back inside the house. She eyed the broken sculpture and felt a rushed feeling come over her, she wanted to faint, but she couldn't. "I'm in trouble…they destroyed the sculpture. Damn it!" He kicked his art to the side and ran his hand through his hair, rubbing vigorously. Sasha flinched as Carly watched her brother, a growing fear inside her. What were they going to do?

"Spencer, I'm sorry…"

"This isn't your fault, Sasha." He turned his eyes to Sam and Freddie, who were watching on quietly. Sasha was wondering how they got untied, chances were, Spencer was wondering the same thing. "First things first, I'll deal with the sculpture later. The buyer's not going to be happy, but that'll be okay…hopefully he'll understand. Sam, Freddie, did you see anything about those men?"

"Not really," Freddie replied. He rubbed the back of his head and looked at Sam with worry. "They hit us over the head from behind. We heard them talking from outside the studio, but never saw their faces." Carly ran over to them and hugged them, telling them how grateful she was that they were safe.

"Okay. Now another question, _how_ are you untied right now? Judging by your wrists…those ropes had to be pretty tight…" The couple swallowed and exchanged nervous expressions. Spencer heard the clicking of a camera phone and looked up to see Tyrone walking from his bedroom. Sasha's eyes widened as the man stared at Spencer. Frown lines creased the man's lips and the wrinkles on his face and forehead were more evident than she remembered. "G-Granddad?"

"Hello Spencer. We need to talk…I have your father on the phone right now."

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><p>Okay, things just took a turn for the worse. Deep breath Spencer, this is your life on the line. Moreover, Sasha, Blake, and Carly.<p> 


	9. Disowned

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 9 (Disowned)<p>

This was turning out to be a shitty day, first he comes home to see his house broken into, Carly's friends tied up, all his secrets aired over live web, and now his grandfather was standing in front of him with his asshole of a father on the phone. His eyes drifted to the sculpture on the ground and his stomach churned, the bile threatened to rise out like a geyser. This was almost too much stress to deal with. Now he had to redo the entire sculpture, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. His eyes flicked over to Sasha and Carly, what were they thinking right now? Things did not bode well for him. How was he to promise he'd take care of them, when things were just spiraling down faster than he could snap his own fingers? He had to catch himself, and fast.

Did he even have to ask what his father would say? Did he have to guess? His hands shook as he watched his grandfather extend the phone to him. The old prick was photographing the entire house, did he assume they left the door open? With Sam and Freddie, two teenagers who were probably consistently horny, might not have noticed anyone coming inside. They didn't even know the men had entered inside! Sweat ran down his neck as he took a slow step towards the old man. He couldn't let himself lose his cool, not yet at least. He didn't want Sasha or Carly to see that, he didn't want them to feel any less about him than he probably already felt. He could sense his entire world crashing around him, spinning and shaking him about. He was a captain on a boat in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a storm threatening to engulf him. What was his next action?

He wrapped his hands around the phone and looked over to Sasha, she was watching on with a worried expression. He clenched his eyes shut and brought the phone to his ear, it was time to hear the man who would seal his fate. He _had_ to man up, but he knew the oppressive thumb of his father just wouldn't allow for that. He never got along with the man, all his dad ever wanted was for him to be a lawyer, there was no time for 'useless art' as he often said. When Spencer dropped out, he knew his father would despise him for it, so he never said a word. He enjoyed art, it was his hobby, and he thought certainly it would be enough for him to take care of himself at least, but then it became all he wanted.

"Spencer?" His father's deep voice bellowed in his ear and he slowly turned away from the others in the room. He couldn't bear for them to see him cringe. His worst fears had just been realized, that's what it felt like, but in a sense, this was truly the worst thing he could ever think of being possible. "Spencer, please explain to me what I've seen. Did I do something wrong raising you? Is there something wrong with me, or is it you?" Spencer rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, the first damn words from the man's mouth were insults. Why the hell did his father act like he was the dumbest man on the planet? "When did you leave law school? How long have you been lying to me?"

"What, granddad didn't tell you?" His father remained silent, which answered Spencer's question. Of course Tyrone told him, he probably told the man everything now that Nevel spilled the beans. Hell, his father was known for asking questions that he knew the answer to, an asshole move at best, but his dad's best known trademark. "Look pop, I'm sorry, but at the time I thought art was the only way…" He turned his gaze to Sasha and locked eyes with her. "And it's caused me a lot of grief and one of the biggest mistakes of my life. But by that same respect, it-"

"A real man would _finish_ what he started, Spencer." Spencer flinched and closed his eyes as his father continued his rant. "You've been lying to me for nearly ten years, it's like I don't know you. You think you know what's best for you? You can't, you must have thought you did, but evidently you don't." Sasha walked over to Spencer and put her hand to his chest. He opened his eyes, her touch comforted her. She studied his eyes, compassion filled hers, something that he hadn't seen in so long. Of course, his grandfather's phone volume was so loud that everyone could hear his father. "You, son, are the most irresponsible and destructible person on this planet!"

"Oh give me a break…" He stepped away from Sasha and started moving for the refrigerator. "You're one to talk, you ran overseas when mom divorced your ass! You want to talk irresponsible? Then maybe look at yourself first."

"Spencer! I'm seeing holes in the wall, I'm seeing bills sky high, I'm seeing your rent has gone up higher than I'm willing to pay, and somehow you've managed to sweep_ that_ under my nose." It was true, he usually asked his dad for a little extra here and there, he knew how to save it and let it build up. "Now I find out that you had a _kid_?" Spencer flinched and his eyes flew over to Carly, who was holding Blake in her arms now. "You don't even have a real job, much less a sense of responsibility, how the fuck can you have a kid! Oh wait, what is it that man said on your sister's show? You ran off, yet another responsibility that you _shirked!_"

Sasha took a deep breath and moved over to him. "Spencer…" He grabbed a soda from the fridge and held up a finger. He understood her concern, but he didn't want his dad hearing her, or anyone else. He started to say something, but Robert cut him off once more.

"And another thing, your grandfather tells me that you left your door unlocked with two teenagers making out upstairs, thereby allowing someone to break in?" He smacked his forehead and saw Sam and Freddie bow their heads, a guilty expression shot past their faces. He clicked his tongue and sighed, trying hard not to let his annoyance with them show through. He loved them, really he did, but they needed to pull back. "You just let them in and out at random times? If you're not going to be in the house, why would you let those two roam around inside?"

"Okay one, I'm going to stop you there." His father huffed as he stomped his foot on the ground. "One, yes, I _ran_ from my child…" Sasha's eyes widened. He didn't want to have to tell his father that Sasha was the one that left, it was much better to let his father assume _he_ was the one that did it. "I couldn't pay anything with my art, and I wasn't ready for a kid back then, I was already taking care of Carly. Now I can deal with it, she found me and I'm accepting. As for Sam and Freddie, you can leave those two out of this! I trust them more so than you probably do, and it is none of your business whether or not they're in _my_ house." The young couple smiled at Spencer and grasped each other's hands. For all Spencer knew, his father was going to be getting red in the face.

"Actually it is my business, because evidently, _I'm_ the one paying all your bills. I'm the one paying rent, and you know what _Son?_ I'm losing more money by supporting your lies, your irresponsible ass, than I would be if you were able to hold your own!"

"Geez, what are you going to do, disown me?" There was a brief pause and dark clouds seemed to roll in on him as he anticipated his father's response. He heard his father breathe out and a noise that sounded like him setting a coffee cup on some surface.

"I may do just that. If you're willing to lie to me, to drop out of law school and start hugging that crap you call art, then you are not my son." Spencer's eyes widened and the others froze, unable to comprehend what was going on. "You have one week to get out of the apartment, I'm no longer supporting you. I have already pulled out all my funds." His face drained of its color and Sasha's hand shot over her mouth. Carly had to move over to the couch and sit down, her head fell back and her chest rose, then fell sharply. "You will no longer receive any payment from me, good luck finding a job, son. Or better yet, you can see how long that art of yours supports you, because I'm pretty sure that museum isn't going to take your designs."

"You know what dad? Fuck you too!" He slammed his thumb onto the off button and pushed the phone against Tyrone's chest. He'd never been so angry before. "If I hear from him again, it'll be too soon." Tyrone shook his head and started heading for the door, stopping only to turn back to Carly. Carly rolled her eyes and looked away, Spencer could see what was coming.

"Carly, come with me. Your brother isn't fit to raise you." Carly narrowed her eyes and handed Blake to Sam. Blake laughed and Spencer gave him a tiny smile, it was possible for the baby to feel like a hot potato right about now. Carly stood up and crossed her arms.

"Granddad, I'm seventeen years old, I have a say where I go, and I'm _staying_ with _Spencer_! I don't care what you say, you're not making me leave. Spencer and Sasha are more than capable of taking care of me, more than some stuffy old man-" She cupped her hands over her mouth and Spencer shot her a scolding glare. "I didn't mean-" Tyrone huffed and turned back to the door in almost a military step.

"Good luck then, when you come to your senses give me a call." Carly narrowed her eyes and lowered her arms as she watched the old man walk out the door. With haste, she moved forward and kicked the door shut.

"Yeah, that isn't happening." Silence filled the air, even Blake quieted his babbling. It was finally sinking in on Spencer what just happened, his eyes glazed over and he started walking towards the bedroom, his stomach was lurching.

"Excuse me…" He made it to his bathroom and fell to his knees beside the toilet. His own father just disowned him and now he had no income. At best, there was about ten thousand in his bank account, but that could deplete rather quickly. In this economy, there was practically nowhere he could get a job that wasn't some fast food place. The ones with the college degrees were the ones suffering. He gripped the edges of the toilet and hung over the top, groaning. The bathroom door opened and he heard Sasha exclaim and rush over to him, when did she become so caring all of a sudden? Then again, he was happy to have her by his side. She wrapped her arm around his back and rested her head onto his shoulder, they could sit there and rest, that was fine. "Sasha…"

"Come on Spencer, let's go lay down for a little. Everyone just needs to calm down."

"Yeah…" She helped him to his feet and led him to the bed. As he lay down, she curled up beside him. He looked to her and saw a tear in her eye. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Sasha."

"It's okay…" She shook her head and closed her eyes. His chest rose as she curled her fingers in. "Like you said before. We're in this together, right?" His lips moved up and his eyes slowly closed.

"Yes. We are."

* * *

><p>Well, things took a deadly turn, pretty bad. Hopefully they'll figure something out, nice to see Sasha's sticking around<p> 


	10. More Bad News

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 10 (More Bad News)<p>

When Spencer awoke, the sun was glaring through the window onto his body. He lifted his hand and attempted to block the sunlight from his eyes, wincing as the light stung him. Had he slept the entire night? That wasn't good, he still had to finish the sculpture, but he also had to make sure his family was all right. A fresh aroma tickled him out of bed, someone was making muffins, chocolate chip muffins at that. He made his way from his bedroom and saw Carly cleaning up the house with Sam and Freddie, all of them looked relatively tired. The trio looked up at Spencer with wry smiles. Sam and Freddie still looked guilty as they did last night. "What are you doing?" He asked with a groggy voice.

Carly brushed her hair over her shoulder and put her arms around her friends' shoulders. "Sam and Freddie felt responsible for everything, so they stayed up all night to help clean the house." Spencer smiled briskly and moved over to them, catching their eyes. They really _were_ sorry, but he didn't feel it was their fault for anything.

"Sam. Freddie. Go home and get some sleep, I'm sure your families are wondering about you." Then again, Sam's mother was debatable. Marissa would have normally bugged the living hell out of Freddie, so he's amazed that he's still here. "You two did nothing wrong, okay?" They bowed their heads and began muttering. He really didn't want them around today, not because of them, but because he had to think about a lot and really didn't want them to be burdened. Hell, he was pretty sure he was about to become poorer than Sam's family was."Go home. I need to check my bank accounts and everything." Freddie looked up at him and smiled slightly, taking Sam's hand in his.

"Okay Spencer. We could use the rest, anyway. We're really sorry for last night. We should have been paying more attention." He gave them each a hug and motioned to the door. After they rushed out, he turned to Carly and hugged her. She sniffed and moved her arms around him. She looked like she'd been up half the night as well, so it was time to send her on to bed as well.

"You too Carly, get some rest."

"Aw, but Sasha's making breakfast. It's only ten in the morning." That late? He really was in for a world of trouble. He turned away and rubbed his head, eyeing the living room. It did look a lot cleaner, it was as though nothing had happened. His eyes fell onto his bottle robot and his stomach knotted up. What the hell was that? Junk? His father and grandfather thought so, so maybe it was. "More bad news, Spencer. Those men found the hidden stash of money…" His heart stopped and he turned abruptly to his sister. There had been two thousand dollars saved up for a rainy day, he was planning to use _that_ for the rest of this month's rent!

"What?"

"It's all gone. That, and any money we had laying around. I counted up the figures in my head…it's not good." He smacked his forehead and fell onto the couch. His head was spinning a mile a minute, his heart was racing, and he personally felt like a bomb waiting to go off. "Spencer, what's going to happen to us? Now that dad and granddad are…taking out _their_ assets…I'm kind of scared."

"We'll be fine, just relax."

"I'm trying to. I can't help but feel this is all my fault."

"It isn't anyone's fault." His lips fell into a frown as he rose up from the couch, ignoring the pain inside him. "I should have been more responsible from the start, I guess." Could he help it if his father was a prick? What of Tyrone, he was as much to blame as anyone. His eyes fell onto the computer and his legs grew weak. _"Bank Account…"_ The words ran amuck in his mind, wrapping around him and strangling him. He shook his head and moved for the kitchen. Sasha was over a pan, frying some hash browns. He smiled at her and she turned her gaze to him.

"Hey Spencer, I'm making fried eggs and hash browns for everyone. Also, I've made some chocolate chip muffins. Your plate's right there." He grabbed his plate from the counter and smiled at her.

"Thank you." His shining ray of hope, that's what she was right now. He eyed his plate and breathed in. There were two eggs, hash browns took up half of the plate, and there was one large muffin right in between. "I'm going to check the bank accounts. Sasha nodded as he moved over to the computer and took a seat in front. Why did he have such a crushing feeling of defeat? His fingers trembled above they hovered above the keyboard. With bravado, he typed in what he needed to open the bank account, but within a moment, he was unable to get in. "What the hell?" Sasha looked over as she plated Carly's food, her lips were pulled back in concern.

"What's the matter?"

"I…" He tried typing his credentials again, making absolutely sure he got his password right, but once again, he was denied. "I can't get into my bank account!" Then it hit him, and the color in his face drained instantly. Sweat trickled down his spine and he hunched forward. "No…it's a joint account with my dad." Sasha frowned and walked over with her plate while Carly ran over to hers. Spencer reached for his phone and dialed the bank. Once they answered, he spoke in a calm, collected voice. "Hello, this is Spencer Shay. I need to know the status of my account?" He gave his information to the receptionist and held his breath. After a minute, the woman came back on the line.

"Sir? That account has been closed." His eyes widened and his body became increasingly numb. "Your father closed the account this morning. There was a balance of four thousand, five hundred and fifty withdrawn as a result." His muscles tightened and he slowly nodded his head. He thought he had more in there than that, but it really didn't matter. He was fucked.

"Y-Yes ma'am, thank you." What more could he say? His hand trembled as he turned off the phone and gazed at Sasha with wide eyes. Carly and Sasha exchanged a worried look and set their plates down next to his, the bad news was readable in his eyes. "Dad closed the bank account. He withdrew all the money…it was his money anyway, but…" Carly's jaw fell and Sasha cupped her hand over her mouth. Spencer couldn't understand why all of this was happening, he wanted things to go much differently. He couldn't give up on Sasha, no way in hell. "Never should have made that joint account with Dad." He felt Carly hug his waist and smiled down at her as she put her chin on his arm.

"It's okay Spencer, we'll figure something out. In fact, what about the museum? I found a letter from them in the mail last night, but with everything, I didn't give it to you. Maybe they've agreed to accept your artwork!" He raised his eyebrows and Sasha reached over to the other side of the counter, picking up a small envelope. He was afraid to open it, really, but his art was so good, who _wouldn't_ accept it?

"Here Spencer, open it and see what they said." She handed him the letter and he took it in his hand, treating it as if it were precious porcelain. He eyed the fold with a growing feeling of despair and anxiety. He pushed away the dangerous emotion and tore the envelope open. Sasha leaned forward against the counter while Carly started eating. As his eyes ran over the words, his heart began to sink.

"It isn't good…" Exactly what he was afraid of, but he couldn't understand it. He'd been _rejected_. Carly gently set her fork on the plate and slowly looked up to him. "They rejected my letter, the piece of art…wasn't to their standard."

"What? That's not right!" Sasha grabbed the letter from him and started to read the letter aloud. "Mr. Shay, we regret to inform you…" Her eyes flicked up to Spencer. Carly slowly pushed her plate away and Spencer bowed his head. "While some of our family here at the Seattle Museum find your artwork to be a decent piece of work, we do not feel that it is good enough to place in our museum and…this is bullshit!" She threw the letter to the side and glared at it. "Your artwork isn't _bad_, Spencer, it's great." Spencer chuckled and slowly shook his head. Despair clouded him, stabbed at him, just as reality came checking in. He was certain the very thing that got him into the mess would get him out, but who was he kidding? A jokester, a player, someone who just rolled through life, not feeling the painful jolt of responsibility, that person would survive. How the hell would they make it alive without understanding the gravity of what was to be _responsibility?_

"No…if it's not good enough to get in a museum, it's not good enough at all. You didn't finish reading, they called my art _junk_, Sasha."

"Well it _isn't_ junk!" He raised an eyebrow and straightened himself. His jaw tightened and his hands closed.

"All my artwork is made of things I get from the junkyard."

"Many artists started out that way…"

"Sasha, please…" She frowned as he moved from the chair and started walking to the couch, he no longer had the appetite for breakfast. "You don't need to try and make me feel better. You were right, art isn't enough. I've lost all my money, I'm behind on rent, I've just been turned down by the one museum, and the only project that could possibly bring me _any_ money the rest of this month, is lying on the ground in pieces! You were right, I was wrong." He fell onto the couch and brought his hands to his face. He had a bitter taste of defeat in his mouth, he wanted it to go away.

Sasha slowly sat next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. She rested her free hand on his arm and put her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry that all of this is happening." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, opening them only when he heard the elevator sound off. He raised an eyebrow and looked over, he hadn't approved anyone to come up, that was their private elevator

"Did you two invite anyone up?"

"No. Carly?" Carly shook her head and turned around as the doors started to open. Much to Spencer's disdain, as if things could get any worse at all, he saw Lewbert walking through the house. Lewbert's face fell onto some of the cracks and holes in the wall that were left over by the Loan Shark's thugs, he cringed and turned his attention back to Spencer. Spencer's eyes fell on a small yellow paper in the man's hands, he started to tense and panic. He'd seen that paper so many times whenever Lewbert would take it to someone _else's_ apartment. Never his own.

"No, no you're not doing this…you don't have a valid reason!" He quickly stood and Sasha looked at him with concern.

"Spencer, what's happening?"

"Eviction notice…" Sasha's eyes widened and Carly quickly ran off into another room, unable to take what was going on. Lewbert raised an eyebrow and handed the paper to Spencer.

"Spencer Shay, you have a week to get your ass out of my apartment building. Your father called to let me know that he is no longer interested in leasing. As the apartment's in his name, you're technically trespassing now." Spencer's stomach churned inside and he quickly turned to Sasha. The poor woman looked like she was about to faint. They just couldn't take any more bad news. "I decided to have a heart just this once, normally I'd call the cops on you straight away, but if you're not out in a week flat. Cops will be called. Oh, and don't worry about the damages to the apartment building anymore, they've been paid for. Have a _great_ day." Lewbert flashed a toothy grin and started walking away.

"Have a great day," Spencer mocked the man and threw the notice onto the couch. "Shit. A week? Just a _week_?" He fell to the couch and groaned. There was nothing more he could say, he was just emotionally beaten.

* * *

><p>Well, things definitely don't look to be getting any <em>easier<em> for them.


	11. Time Of Need

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 11 (Time of Need)<p>

Spencer worked on reassembling his art sculpture with Carly while Sasha fed Blake at the kitchen counter. He hoped he could finish the sculpture in time for the buyer, so that they could have _some_ money left, but the chances were very slim. It was supposed to be another dog sculpture for the same impatient buyer that he made the Labradoodle sculpture for so long ago when he first met Sasha. So already, the marks were against him. What was the point? It just didn't make him happy the way it used to.

He dropped his paintbrush into the bucket and slowly stood from the ground. Carly gazed up helplessly as Spencer scrubbed the back of his head. "I'm done. The buyer won't take it, we won't be done with this before tomorrow, I'm done." He saw despair reach over Carly's face and she quickly stood from the sculpture.

"But Spencer, it could give us at least _some_ money to tide us over, right?"

"What's the point? There's no way to complete it in time, and the buyer said he won't push deadlines any further." He looked to Sasha and Blake, his heart fluttered momentarily as Sasha looked over at him. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyes were glazed over and she appeared tired and exhausted. He needed to take care of his family first, above all else. He didn't care if he gave up on his art, not as long as his family would be safe. He lowered his voice to a whisper and turned his eyes down at the sculpture. "At least we're together now…" The door swung open and Spencer's eyes flew over just as Freddie and Sam came running in.

"We got your text!" Sam exclaimed, hugging Carly close. "We came as soon as we heard, we even brought our-" Sam looked around and narrowed her eyes, meeting Freddie's gaze carefully. They walked outside for a second. Spencer's eyebrows lifted and his arms folded over. He turned his head back to see Sasha leaning forward against the counter, resting on her arms and watching the door. Freddie and Sam returned with Marissa and Pam, gripping them by their wrists. The two mothers appeared agitated. Their faces were flat and they were leaning away towards the door. "We brought our mothers to try and discuss living arrangements. Maybe you could stay with one of us!"

"I am a single mother, now raising two girls," Pam said as she pulled her hand away from her daughter. Sam frowned and turned to her mother. "Besides _that_, we're poor enough as it is, there's nowhere in our house for them, I'm sorry."

"But mom!" Pam sighed and moved towards Spencer, putting her hand on his arm and looking at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I would help you if I could, but there's just no room for you." He smiled politely and lifted his hand to dismiss her. He hadn't wanted to impose on the mothers; he hadn't even expected something like this. "You could always sue Nevel for Libel and Slander, couldn't you?" He rubbed his chin and chuckled. It was a good idea, at best, but it wouldn't work.

"Most of the things Nevel said were true and could be proven, so it would be a bad case to make. Thank you for the suggestion." He turned to Sam and Freddie, then smiled at them. "And thank you for the offers, but I'll figure something out." Freddie cursed under his breath and quickly looked up to Spencer.

"Mom has that one guest bedroom, though!" Spencer's heart clenched and Sasha put her hand to her chest. Carly definitely had good friends, he could never question his little sister on that. They were trying all they could to help, but it just wasn't enough.

"One bedroom won't hold two adults, a teenager, and a toddler, Freddie. Thank you." While it could be possible, the guest bedroom Freddie was talking about was very small. There would be little space to move around, much less sleep. He inhaled and met the mothers' sad eyes. Marissa looked away and Pam seemed to show more sympathy, perhaps it was due to Pam being the one of the two that was poor. Marissa _had_ money, and plenty of it. "If you really want to help, help us pack. I need to make a phone call." There was only one person he could think of that would have a place, but for nothing, it wouldn't be very great. He had to expect that. He walked to his bedroom and sat on the bed, looking up as Sasha walked in. "Sasha, I…I'm not giving up. I want you to know…" Sasha lowered her arms and breathed in as he kept his eyes with hers. "No matter what happens. I love you. I love my son, and I love you. I'm going to do everything I can to do right by you two."

Sasha's eyes opened and her voice softened. "I know…" She slowly sat next to him and put her hand over his. "I have something to tell you, Spencer." He looked at her, wanting to joke, to lighten the mood somehow, but he couldn't think of a damn thing to make this situation any better. "I love you too. I've never stopped, and I have faith in you. Okay? I trust you."

His heart lifted and his blood warmed inside. His lips parted, and a quiet gasp left them. He moved towards Sasha and his heart began pounding. She said the words he wanted to hear, he almost couldn't believe it. A newfound strength rose in him. If Sasha had faith in him, then so could he. "Thank you, Sasha. For believing in me. I do have a friend that could get us a place, but it wouldn't be very _good_, at least…it would be shelter." She closed her eyes and lifted her hand up.

"Any place that we won't get kicked out of in a week, I'm fine. Just find us somewhere to stay. Even if it's just a motel room."

"Yeah I'm pretty sure a motel room would be better than what Socko would have in store," He replied flatly. Sasha's eyes lit with remembrance of Socko, and a chuckle left her lips.

"Oh him? Well…he's better than nothing."

"Exactly." They were close to Socko back when they were dating, almost always, they'd hang with him. He was a scrappy looking fellow and always wore a white ball cap with the visor sideways. He lived out in a run-down neighborhood, known as the "ghetto", and helped to lease homes. He had a friend named Lenny, a Landlord, who knew Spencer and often said if he ever needed anything, he might be able to help. Sure, if Socko found a house and Lenny approved, it may be a run-down piece of crap, but they couldn't even afford a motel right now. "Should I give him a call? I don't want to bother with that sculpture right now…"

"You shouldn't put it off, Spencer. If you think it's the one thing that can get us money right now, you should work on it." He smiled sadly and lay back on the mattress. He pushed his hands behind his head and looked up to Sasha, who was gazing down at him. "I know you just need to relax, we all need to take a break…" He pressed his lips together and eyed her plump lips, the desire to kiss her was there even now, but why in such a hard time? He knew if he tried, she would probably smack the hell out of him. "Just think about it. If you finish the sculpture in time to make the money, then at least we'll have something to use, even for Socko. Even though he may or may not force us to pay rent, it would still help. Even something to get us on our feet for a bit. You know, I'll support you." His lips turned up and he tilted his head to the right.

"It'll be hard, but we could do it. And did you mean what you said?" She lifted her eyebrows as he breathed in, feeling nervous as hell. "About still loving me? You would have faith in me? Maybe even date me…" She bit her lip and her chest moved out as she inhaled a deep breath.

"Maybe."

"How would I know? Cause no matter what, I'm not going to stop loving, or attempting to court, you." He smirked and she laughed once. Her eyes softened and her lips rubbed against one another. He was surprised when she started leaning down to him. Her lips hovered over his and her hair clung to his face. He gazed into her bright eyes and slowly brought his arms to his sides. "Sasha?"

Her breath on his lips shot him into cloud nine, his blood rushed to his skin and his heart started to attack his ribs and lungs. She moved her body above him and leaned down, pressing her lips against his, bringing him into instant euphoria. He closed his eyes and brought his hands to her sides. He felt invincible, nothing could reach him, this was a high that he hadn't experienced in so long.

Her hands slid beneath his shirt and rubbed against his bare skin. Her fingertips kissed his chest like a million butterflies dancing around him. Her right hand rested above his heart and she lifted up a few inches from him. "I can feel your heart racing…" She carefully moved her left hand to his wrist and pulled it to her right breast. He breathed in and pressed against her chest. He felt her heart thrashing about inside, beating in rapid succession. "The way you make me feel amazes me, I don't know if I expected that or not. The way you care about Carly, how you've automatically started caring about Blake, and your willingness to let us in, I…I can't say I expected any of that."

"So what, that's how to win your heart? Is that it?"

"By being a man...Spencer. Taking responsibility..." He teased her with a smirk and slowly moved his arms around her waist. He was amazed that she was starting to come around, and now he knew how to win her back for sure. He would definitely do his best to take care of them all, even if that meant working hard on this one last sculpture for four to five hundred dollars.

"Thank you Sasha." He leaned up and kissed her passionately. She gasped into his mouth and swayed her hips to the side as he rolled her over. Her arms moved around his back as he kissed her jaw and made his way to her neck. Her eyes fluttered open as he started nipping. She opened her mouth and clamped it shut on his collarbone as he sucked in her skin. He let out a grunt as her nails scraped along his back.

This was too much, he knew they shouldn't do anything right now, there were more important matters at stake. He'd only not felt this way for such a long time, that it was so easy to give into the temptation. He could feel her giving into it, her body was quivering and tiny yelps were escaping from her. "S-Spencer…" He pulled away from her and rested his head on his pillow. Gazing into her eyes, he felt she was a true image of beauty. Indeed he wanted to paint a portrait of her, but now just wasn't the time for that. They took heavy breaths and cuddled close. Sasha curled up at his chest and sighed. "It does feel good…being in your arms again."

"It feels good having you in mine again."

"It's too easy."

"What is?" He watched as she looked up at him. He caught the faintest smile gracing her lips.

"Falling for you all over again. It's easy to fall in love, but am I afraid? Yes…I know you say you have more reason to fear, I'm the one that left, and I…I do regret that."

"I understand why, and I can promise you this." He held her closer and gently kissed her forehead. She gazed into his eyes, her breath stilled and her body relaxed into his arms. "Everything I do is for you, for Blake, and for Carly. You three are my world right now, and I don't want to do anything that might let you down."

"That's a lot to promise." She closed her eyes and flipped over, letting him spoon her body. She pulled his hand around her and held it close to her chest. "I know you'll let us down sometime, and I'll probably do the same, no one's perfect. Maybe that's what I expected back then, but…we can pull through. You haven't called Socko yet?"

"No. I don't even know what I'm going to tell him. Such short notice, we have to finish that last sculpture and get it done in time to have _some_ money to start out with, then we have to finish packing. There's really nothing in this house that we can keep, besides mattresses, and even still…" There was no way to move mattresses, the car he had was his father's car, which meant he couldn't do a damn thing with that. At least it could serve transportation means for the next week, or until Tyrone went to take the car away. "We're in a lot of trouble."

"It'll be okay, as long as all of us are together, it'll be okay. Right?" In that single moment, it became entirely clear to him through the small tone in her voice, perhaps a hint of a click in her tone, that she really was depending on him. She_ needed_ him not to give up. Whatever the case was, he was going to give it his all. There was no room for faltering. They needed him to believe in himself, that was all.

"It will be." He watched her smile and he smiled back at her. "What do you want me to do right now? Go back and work on that sculpture?"

"Yes, but for now, just hold me a little longer."

"Okay." He reached over and kissed her temple. She nestled herself closer and hummed softly. "I love you, Sasha." He slowly closed his eyes and breathed out as all the stressors around him seemed to fade away. He never wanted this moment to end, just to keep going on forever.

* * *

><p>Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was nice of Sam and Freddie to ask their moms to help out, even though they were unable. The talk Spencer and Sasha had was very relaxing to write. Let me know what you thought of everything<p> 


	12. Help From Friends

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 12 (Help from Friends)<p>

Spencer awoke two hours later with a loud yawn. He opened his eyes and looked around, hoping he hadn't slept too long, he really wanted to get that sculpture done. Moving his hand around the bed, he noticed Sasha wasn't with him. Where could she have gone? Could she have run off on him? No, he had more faith in her than that. There was a bit of noise outside that seemed to be drawing him from the room. He carefully rose from the bed and rubbed his face, moaning slightly. He would give anything for all this to be a really bad dream. How the hell was he going to take care of Sasha, Blake, and Carly as he promised now? Without any money, it was going to be a living nightmare! His eyes drifted to the back of his sockets and his body fell against the mattress with a plopping noise.

After struggling to get out of bed for five minutes, he finally rolled out of the room. Two hours was a nice timeframe for a nap, but it didn't help him to deal with the dreariness that came from it. He rubbed his eyes and saw what looked like his sculpture, nearly _finished_. His eyebrows shot up and he rushed towards it, adrenaline spiked inside as he examined the sculpture. It was beautifully colored with a reddish-orange tint, the snout was made of a bottle that was glued to the face, though the entire body appeared to be done in a type of paper mache. He ran his hand over the smooth backside and smiled with pride when he felt the soft cotton fibers on the animal, apparently its fur. All the work was coming together, the beautiful paint, the décor, everything made it stand out and look like a real dog. He was amazed they even made the body _feel_ like a dog. "He's awake!" Carly's voice bit into his ears and he quickly snapped his head up to see Carly rushing down the stairs. Trailing behind her were Sam, Freddie, Marissa, Pam, and Sasha. Sasha was holding onto Blake and smiling cheerfully at Spencer.

"Guys? What is this? The sculpture…" He was beginning to see what happened, as they were all covered with paint and glue. They must have worked tirelessly on the project. He pointed his hand to the sculpture and stood straight, meeting their eyes. "This looks better than how I was doing it." Carly nodded her head and rushed next to him, hugging him close. He hugged her back and turned his eyes up to Sasha's. "Someone explain, please?"

"Oh!" Carly bounced back and knelt beside the sculpture. "When you and Sasha went into the bedroom, I started talking to Sam, Freddie, and their parents. I managed to convince them to help us with the sculpture. Then Sasha came out after about an hour-" He saw a smirk flash on her face and flushed when he realized what she might be thinking. "It was cute how you two were cuddled up together, by the way." Sasha's cheeks shot red and Spencer nervously rubbed the back of his hair. "Anyway, when she came out, she decided to help out. We also each took turns taking care of Blake. It's been nonstop working on the sculpture for the last two hours, we only just took a break from work. What do you think?"

"I think it's beautiful! I'd be happy to show it to the buyer tomorrow, but I'd have to say you guys did most of the work." Marissa cleared her throat and moved forward, she had an exausted smile on her face and her hair was a mess of colors.

"I really don't think that would be necessary. I need to take a shower." He chuckled to himself and rubbed his chin. There was a sinking suspicion that Marissa was the difficult one to convince. Either way, he was grateful for her. He quickly hugged her, making her shout out in shock. "Spencer! I have paint on me, do you want to get that messy?" Pam laughed and walked over to them, letting Spencer pull her into the grateful hug as well.

"Thank you Ms. Benson, and you too Ms. Puckett." Tears stung his eyes as he moved from the silent women and hugged Sam and Freddie. "Also you two. All of you." He really wanted to finish the sculpture himself, but it was practically done as it was, he didn't see a whole lot more that needed to be done. "You two can go home now, if you would like, thank you for helping out." The two mothers gave a quick nod and Marissa hurried out of the door. Pam moved to the couch and sat on a towel that had been spread out. Spencer took a deep breath and looked around the room, the couch was the one thing that had been moved to the way it should have been, everything else was still a mess. Pam looked up and lifted her shoulders. He could see the pity in her eyes and for the first time, it actually stung, simply because he _knew_ the reason she pitied him. He really had to make whatever money he got from the buyer _last_.

"I came here with Sam, so I'm just going to wait until she's ready to go home, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah that's fine, Ms. Puckett. Thank you." He turned his gaze to the door and felt a pang in his chest. "Freddie's mom had to get cleaned up?" Pam followed his gaze and looked back with a mildly vague smile.

"Yes. Don't worry about how she's acting, I understand the whole loan shark thing. She doesn't." Spencer pressed his lips together and turned to Sasha. So, the reason for Marissa's apprehension was due to their sudden poverty and the loan shark. Sasha bowed her head while Carly quickly moved to the sculpture with Sam and Freddie. "If you don't mind me asking, how much money did you borrow from this guy?" Spencer raised an eyebrow and Sasha took a deep breath. In all this haste, he'd forgotten to ask, they needed to know how much was at stake. He was curious to see if Pam knew anything about loan sharks, but he was afraid to ask, due to a fear of offending the woman. Sasha moved over to the couch and sat down, rocking Blake gently in her arms.

"The highest degree I've made was High School, I've only had some college." That wasn't a surprise, he'd already known that from the lifestyle she had growing up. After her mother's death, there really wasn't enough money to even attend college. "I've gone from job to job, but for some reason it never sticks, right?" Pam nodded and leaned back as Sasha looked to Blake.

"I had that same problem when I was younger. Still do, just a little, but I work at the same hospital Marissa works at. In this economy, it's really hard to get a job, and then keeping it is even harder, so don't feel bad about that." Spencer took a seat next to Sasha and brought a gentle hand over hers. She gave him a smile and closed her eyes.

"Thanks. When I got pregnant, I actually was working at this burger joint. I became a shift manager just last year, but after a while I was let off. I was taking too much time trying to take care of Blake."

"You didn't have a babysitter?"

"No, just my neighbors, and I still wasn't keen on them. Either way, rent was piling up, bills were coming in, and I was running low on money. So I went into this casino…found Mr. Clayton, and borrowed enough money to help pay it off for a while. Ten grand..."

"You took a big risk there, Sasha. They'll never leave you alone until it's paid off, then there's the interest that _they_ put on you." Spencer felt her tense and looked over to see a tear run down her cheek. He lifted up a finger and brushed it away. "Don't feel so bad, a a lot of people don't understand until it's too late. A friend of mine was dealing with one, but they managed to pay off their debt completely…It sounds like you were dealing with a lot at the time, judgment is usually the first thing to go in a panic, I'm just glad you and Blake made it here. I know Spencer's happy about it, it's easy to see." Spencer's cheeks turned red and Sasha looked up at him with a grin. "Will you try to get a job as well?" Sasha cleared her throat and started speaking hurriedly.

"I can, but I really want to stay and take care of Blake, there are certain things he needs done that I know how to do, and then there's the fact that-"

"The fact that you don't want anyone else babying him too much, right?" Sasha paused and waited. Pam looked to Sam and breathed out slowly. "I was the same way with Sam and Melanie, still am, actually. I couldn't stand to be away from my children for more than an hour or else I'd go nuts with worry. Would the babysitter pay attention, would they know that Sam was allergic to peanuts and couldn't eat anything with nuts in it, or that Melanie had an overactive bladder?" Spencer raised an eyebrow and heard Sam cough. "I had a bad case of 'mommy syndrome', as I call it." She laughed once and Sasha's lips curled into a smile. "Actually I remember seeing the psychologist about it at the hospital I worked at, Marissa was seeing the guy for the same basic issue."

"And she still has it badly," Spencer commented. A smirk played at his lips. Freddie looked up with nervous eyes and quickly returned them to the sculpture.

"Yeah she does, but believe me, I understand how it can be. Being a single mother can be a real challenge, so I'm proud of you for heading back to Spencer here. For Blake's sake, if anything, try to make it work. Let him get a job first, bring the money home, and then after that, if you feel ready to go to work-"

"But then we'd need a babysitter, wouldn't we?" Pam paused and smiled at her, nodding slowly. "I don't know, after my neighbors were supposed to watch him, I've stopped letting other people do it…" Spencer's brow furrowed and he eyed his son with growing concern. "They would smoke with him in the room, they'd have parties, or sometimes even just watch television and ignore him all day…I remember once they let him cry in the bedroom while turning up the television, I _can't_ leave him with someone else!" Pam's jaw fell. Anger spiked inside Spencer and he gently brushed some hair from his son's forehead.

"How could you let them do that, Sasha?"

"I had no choice, Spencer…no one else would watch him."

"I understand." He wasn't angry at her, he was angry at the neighbors for neglecting an innocent child. "I'd like to string them up, but I understand. Just where were you living all this time, then?"

"Not the best neighborhood. It was a bit run down, but it wasn't _horrible_. Could have been better, the landlord was nice." Spencer closed his eyes and leaned back, sighing. He tried to imagine how Sasha's life was like, but he just couldn't picture her in such a bad state, but if she said she was, then most likely she was. Often, she never wanted to ask for help, but at least she knew when she couldn't go any further. "Speaking of landlords…" She turned to Spencer and slowly stood up from the couch. He opened his eyes to her. "I called Socko while you were asleep, told him he and Lenny should head over…is that okay?"

"Yeah that's fine, it saves me the trouble. What did Socko say when he heard you?"

"He wasn't sure it was me, when I told him, he was surprised and wanted to know what I was doing here."

"You tell him about Blake?"

"Yes." He could only imagine the jokes that would come from Socko now, but anything would be worth it. He saw Sasha laugh and smiled at her, pride welled up inside and he rose to his feet. "He said he needs to sign you up for the sex education course at his cousin's school." Spencer laughed. The others shook their heads and moved away from the sculpture.

"You can add anything you want to this," Carly stated. Spencer nodded and moved over to the object, he was thinking long and hard on what he could add. A stench shot into his nose and his eyes shot over to Blake. Sasha gasped and Carly hurried over to her. "Ooh, could you show me how to change the diaper?"

"Sure, let's go to the bathroom for that." He shook his head and chuckled as the two hurried off. Sam and Freddie began picking up around the house while Pam continued to lounge on the couch.

Within a few hours, the house was looking better, and the sculpture was finished. All he had to do was make sure _nothing_ touched the sculpture, and everything would be perfect. He scratched his head and looked up when the doorbell rang. He rushed over and answered it.

"Spence!" Socko exclaimed happily. He surprised Spencer with a friendly hug and flashed a toothy grin. "Now where's my new godson?"

"Uh, I don't think-" Socko clapped his hands together and laughed. Sasha watched from the kitchen and shook her head. Blake was upstairs with Carly.

"Anyway, what's been going on? Your lady said you needed a new place, so I brought Lenny." A burly man, just a hair shorter than Spencer, trotted into the room. He had a cheery smile and a handlebar mustache that connected with his blonde beard. Lenny extended a hairy hand, then with his other hand, lifted his black cowboy hat in a welcoming gesture.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Spencer."

"You too," Spencer shook Lenny's hand and smiled politely. He expected to feel a warm, calloused hand, but the man's hand was almost cold as ice, it shocked him. "And yes, Socko, we need a place…" Lenny pulled his hand back and Spencer carefully pushed his hand into his pocket, trying to warm it up. Socko rubbed his chin, then tucked his hands into the pockets of his white hood jacket.

"So what happened? The old man tossing you out?"

"Pretty much." He rubbed his neck and exhaled. He was still trying to get over his father doing all but disowning him. "Dad figured out I've been lying to him, then took everything. I guess he paid off whatever I owed Lewbert-"

"Ah the man downstairs."

"Yeah."

"I told you, making deals with the devil never ends well!" Spencer laughed once more, the most he'd actually felt like laughing since everything went bad. Sasha smiled and began slicing a loaf of bread, she was trying to make some garlic bread with spaghetti for dinner.

"Wrong man downstairs, but close enough."

"Uh huh." Socko pat Spencer's shoulder and started walking to the counter. Spencer followed him and leaned against the counter, struggling to come up with anything at all that _wouldn't _be bad news. "So Lewbert's kicking you out?"

"I have a week to find a new place and be out of here. That's it, no more time. I have a buyer coming tomorrow for that sculpture over there." He pointed at the sculpture and watched the two men look over at it. "At least someone still has a heart, but that's it, I don't have any other buyers."

"Yeah that is a predicament."

"He should pay a couple hundred, so it's not so bad. I'm not sure what we can afford, however."

"I can find you a good place," Lenny commented. The man was walking around the sculpture and looking up to meet Spencer's eyes. "I can find a place for literally nothing. It might have to be fixed up, but it would be enough to hold you and your family until you find something better. Rent would be cheap, but it would still present itself. I _have_ to have a rent for any house being occupied, even ones that aren't very good."

"You'd do that for us?"

"Yes, just start getting all your important stuff together and I'll have a place ready for you. I'll even help you fix it up, I have the money to do so, but that's about it. What do you say?" Spencer met Sasha's gaze and frowned, they had no choice. She slowly nodded her head and moved her hand to his, giving it a gentle squeeze of approval.

"Okay then, I guess we have a deal. There's really no other choice."

"I understand, and I'll do my best for you." His fingers were crossed that Lenny and Socko would come through for them, but he had a feeling that whatever house they could find wouldn't be close to the level of 'good' he would have liked.

* * *

><p>Some advice from Ms. Puckett, some help from their friends with the sculpture, Socko and Lenny are going to search for a place, a little does go a long way. Let's see what happens<p> 


	13. New Home

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 13 (New Home)<p>

A week later, the family was packed, but not with much. The buyer had enjoyed Spencer's sculpture so much that he paid a bit extra, mostly considering when he heard the others helped, so they had an even thousand to save away. During the week, Spencer also sold a lot of the furniture they had that they wouldn't be able to take with them, such as the couch. Lenny managed to stuff Spencer's mattress and Carly's mattress in the back of his truck, but transportation wasn't easy, so they were lucky to have those two items. Blake's crib also was transported in Socko's large SUV. The table and chairs were sold, however, but Lenny was providing the table and chairs. As for all of the furniture that went, Lenny and Socko decorated the house for the family while they packed the bare essentials. In all, Spencer acquired seven hundred dollars from his sales. Sasha pooled together the items she had in her old house and sold off five hundred dollars. Her landlord let her get away without owing him any money. All together, the family had two thousand and two hundred dollars to their own name.

The only contact he'd had with his father was when Tyrone came by to repossess the car, which he'd lent to Spencer when Robert had gone overseas. At that point, it was clear to Spencer that his father and grandfather had no intention of helping him any longer.

They hadn't seen the house yet, so they were eagerly anticipating it. Carly was riding shotgun in the SUV while Spencer and Sasha sat in the seats behind them, Blake was in the car seat between the two. Spencer's eyes drifted out at the buildings they were passing. They were all stone and brick, old looking, and looked as though they'd been through decades of neglect. His breath caught in his throat as the air from the outside came through the open window and stung his palate. He gagged and felt Sasha reach over to close the window. "We're in one of those really poor neighborhoods, aren't we?" He met Socko's eyes in the mirror and felt his heart sink in his chest. Socko frowned and moved his eyes back to the road.

"Unfortunately. We couldn't find anywhere better. It's not so bad, though, the neighbors here are actually friendly people."

"Friendly, you say?" He moved his eyes out to see three people in a circle on the sidewalks. They were shoving each other over what looked like some kind of drug container. The huskier man looked like he had a gun in his waist. "Okay, and your definition of friendly and safe is?" He'd known Socko for years, yes, since they were children, but he was beginning to feel he had a misconception of what Socko thought a _good_ place was. His eyebrow rose as Socko's eyes turned to the mirror once more.

"Statistically, this is the safest part of town. There's practically no crime where you're going. Then again, where you're going is also a part of town where few people actually _live_. Your chances of crime happening around you are slim to none." He had his doubts, but if Socko said it was safe, then it was safe. He met Sasha's nervous gaze and reached over to hold her hand. His eyes moved to Carly, she was shaking. It was hard to see, but looking hard enough, he could tell she was probably very frightened. He pressed his lips together and looked to Blake. His son was asleep.

"Good, because that's the most important thing right now. You said Lenny would be at the house?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Carly whined and moved her head back. No one had done iCarly this week, of course no one was sure how to do it. She couldn't even bring her laptop! She'd put everything on a few flash drives, but that was it. Spencer kept his laptop, due to managing finances and so on, but that was the only computer they had. It was looking more and more like iCarly was over, but Carly wasn't planning to go out without a fight. At school this entire week, people were commenting on Spencer having a son, but also commenting on what was going on. So far, no one _knew_ anything was wrong, but she'd had to talk to several of her teachers, including Principal Franklin, and people were starting to suspect something.

"Spencer, are we going to be okay?"

"We're going to be fine, Carly. Trust me, everything's going to be okay." Carly sniffed and closed her eyes. She moaned and brought her head to rest on her window. "I know things look bad right now, but it'll work out."

"No offense, but why couldn't you stay in Law School? Why deliberately piss off dad because he and granddad couldn't grasp your hobby?" He winced and moved his hand to his chest. He shook his head and smacked his lips together. What could he say to her? He was getting tired of feeling like a letdown.

"Ouch. That hurt. I was trying to prove something to them, true, but at the same time…I don't know what I was thinking. I never anticipated having to take care of a family." He chuckled to himself and gazed ahead as Socko started to come to a stop near a curb to their right. He raised an eyebrow and waited as the others stared at the area. "This is it?"

Rural, or 'ghetto', was definitely considered better looking than this area. On their left were several old looking homes that seemed to have holes taken out of them and weeds growing up in the yards. On their right, nestled in between two mediocre homes that looked as bland as they were grey, was a small tan colored home with wood shingles. The yard was covered in weeds and tall grass, which was completely opposite from the homes on the sides. Spencer tilted his head and clicked his tongue as he scanned the homes.

With the house facing them, to the right of the home was the grey, dusty house with a broken window pane and a covered porch. A dark skinned woman with a pleasant, young smile, and a red bandana over black dreads falling over her shoulder in a ponytail stood on the porch. She was waving at them. She was wearing scrubs, distinguishing her as a medical assistant or a nurse somewhere. To the other side of the house was a red brick home with a closed porch as well, in addition to a neat and tidy yard. A man with grey stubble and frail arms watched from his rocking chair, which creaked with every rock.

The middle house was the one with Lenny standing on the porch. The family stepped out of the car and stared down at the cracked sidewalk. They were half expecting one of those cracks to turn out to be a snake trailing from the woods that was their front yard, but it was nothing so much as that. They made their way towards the house, walking carefully up the stone steps leading up the hill to the porch of their home. Sasha held Blake close to her chest while Spencer moved over to Lenny. "Okay Lenny, we're trusting you. Although, you didn't tell us we'd be living here…"

"Well it's better than nothing, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So, let's go inside! I can ensure you, the outside of the house is virtually spotless, without blemish." Spencer's stomach flipped and he immediately began wondering about the _inside _of the home. "So are you ready to see your first family home?" He chuckled nervously and felt Sasha's free hand clench onto his right hand. Carly took a deep breath and wrapped her arm around his left.

"Well, it's now or never." Lenny and Socko smiled at them and slowly opened the maple wood door. Instantly they stepped into what appeared to be a mix between the kitchen and the living room. On the right side of the room was a muddy brown, three seat couch that faced a small television on a small brown stand. To the left, past a sea of almost nauseating blue carpet was a square table with four chairs around them. The room was fairly small, but still big enough for elbowroom. "Not entirely big…"

"It's messy," Sasha said while staring at the baseboards of the walls. The walls were a pale green color, which was something Spencer instantly wanted to paint over. He sighed and took a step forward.

"Nothing that we can't fix, right?"

"If you say so…" They were led into the kitchen, which seemed to be made up of greasy peach floor tiles. There was hardly enough room in the kitchen to fit Spencer, Sasha, Socko, and Lenny, without bumping into one another. The kitchen had counters running across a wall with two windows near the sink, which rested in the middle of the wall. Next to the sink was a counter, and then an electric stove. Beside the stove was a white refrigerator. Sasha looked behind both appliances and her face twisted in a sour look. "We need to get behind here and clean up."

"That's not all." Carly knelt down and was inspecting the section beneath the cabinet doors. She swiped her finger under them and grimaced. "There's _gristle_ under here! Ew!" Spencer clenched his eyes shut and exhaled. He made his way to the door opposite of them and started waving his hand, motioning them out of the kitchen.

"Moving along, moving along." The girls nodded and hurried past him. He turned to see a dark hallway with three doors. Two doors were on opposite walls while the third one was at the very end of the hall. When they opened the two doors closest, they saw beds and dressers. Carly was first to run to her familiar bed and jump on it, next to her bed was a dresser that sat right next to a window. She took a deep breath and sprawled out on the mattress. Next to her bed was an end table with a blue lamp. The ceiling fan was spinning around, cooling off the room, although the baseboards and walls were still dirty.

"This is okay. I have my bed now…" In the other bedroom, the setup was very similar to Carly's, but with a different bed and blue curtains on the windows. Sasha tapped her lower lip and frowned.

"The curtains seem out of place."

"We can get some new ones." Spencer continued down the hallway, sighing heavily as he opened the last door. He found himself walking into a completely white bathroom with enough space for two or three people to stand in. The toilet was right next to the sink, which sat directly in front of the bathroom closet. On the far end of the wall was a tall shower. It wasn't much, but it worked, and it was the cleanest room in the entire house. He turned to the others, who were making their way in, and gave them an exasperated look. "I know it's not much, guys, but maybe after some paint jobs, flooring, cleaning…it can be something for a while. Temporarily?"

"We can't afford anything better," Carly replied. She looked at the wall as though she wanted to lean against it, but thought better of it. Sasha met Spencer's eyes and smiled slightly.

"It's your decision, Spencer. Whatever's best…" Right, give him the hard decision. He put his hands to his hips and gave Socko a curious look. Maybe once they got to know the neighbors, perhaps after working around on the house, it really did hold promise. That was what he was holding out for. Carly was right, they _couldn't_ afford better.

"It's small, barely enough leg room, but it works. Socko, Lenny, let's get to work." The two looked up at him as he closed his eyes and exhaled. No turning back now. "For now…this is our new home."

* * *

><p>Well that's the new home, what do you think of everything? Pretty sure Carly's about to want to break down and cry. So Spencer's going to try fixing up the place. Stick around.<p> 


	14. True Friends Stick Together

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 14 (True Friends)<p>

The next day, the 29th of September, Carly made her way slowly through the halls of the school. She hadn't spoken to Sam and Freddie during the week, really, she'd been too upset. She was late, but it was understandable, she'd been awake all night unpacking and taking care of Blake. She debated not showing up to school at all, but she didn't want to skip. Even if she was later than Sam ever was, she _still_ planned on showing up.

She felt the stares and gasps upon her, stinging her as she made her way to her locker. The kids that were usual skippers of class most likely mocked her in their heads. They didn't know, no one knew, but she didn't care. She knew how serious things could get out of hand if people discovered something here. Recalling how quickly people started teasing Freddie over his lack of a _first kiss_, it was easy to tell how much uproar would be made over her sudden poverty. Where was Sam when she needed her?

The locker felt cold and empty when she lifted her hand to open it. _Stay strong_, it was all she could think. She had to keep her head up, she couldn't let anyone see her shake. She'd been doing so well during the last week, or at least, that's what she wanted people to think. What they didn't know never hurt them. They didn't have to know that she cried herself to sleep, or that she felt like her father had just driven a ten inch blade into her heart. As long as she stayed above ground, they would never suspect anything was wrong. Even the change of scenery for iCarly would hopefully not be enough to make anyone wonder.

She froze while removing the book for her first class from her locker, her face twisted with anguish as she began to realize that she failed to complete her history project! Mrs. Briggs would kill her! She was the only teacher to _not_ give her an extension on due dates, the others allowed it because of what was going on. Her heart clenched and her voice vanished from her throat. What was she to do now? _Face the music._ She brought the book to her chest and leaned back against the locker. After scanning the quiet hallway to make sure no one was around, she put her hand to her forehead and let out a sob. She slid against the lockers and sat on the ground, trying desperately to shake away the tears, but they continued to flow for what seemed an eternity.

"Carly?" She felt a hand on her shoulder and quickly looked up, Gibby was kneeling beside her with a great amount of concern on his face. What was he doing out of class? He had Mrs. Briggs first as well, she didn't usually let anyone leave."Are you all right?" She shrugged off his hand and moved to her feet, wiping her eyes dry.

"I'm fine. What are you doing out of class?" Her eyes shot to the nearby clock and her lips fell. First period was almost completely over. So it made sense, Mrs. Briggs usually stopped paying attention to the class or fell asleep in the last fifteen minutes. She took a deep breath and bowed her head. "I guess I'm just lucky we could talk the school into letting me continue my senior year here…" Gibby agreed and pat her back, pushing gently, guiding her down the hall.

"I had to go to the restroom first of all, did that, then saw you over here. Aside from that…what do you mean you had to convince them?"

"We moved to a neighborhood that is out of the school district for Ridgeway. Technically I shouldn't even be attending this school." She shuddered to think of what school she could have attended if not this one. The only high school she saw around the neighborhood she was at was a rundown looking building that could have served as a school for kids back in the 1950s. "We're in a pretty old part of Seattle." Gibby's mouth formed an oval and he pushed his hands into his pockets.

"I see. You know, Sam and Freddie have been worried about you. We all have. You've not said a _word_ to them. I know you may be falling down into a less than luxurious lifestyle nowadays, but that doesn't mean _our_ views about you are changing. You haven't even told us what this week's iCarly's going to be about." iCarly left a bitter taste in her mouth now, it was more of a burden to think of _anything_ for the show than it was fun.

"I'm not even sure if we can do that anymore. I got rid of my laptop and Lewbert doesn't even want our 'destructive tendencies' in the building." She waved her fingers in the air, mocking Lewbert with air quotes. The man claimed the Shays were simply too destructive and might cause trouble in his lobby. "So apparently he doesn't trust me enough to let me in the building. How's that right? Not only that, but do you know what he called me?" Gibby's eyebrow rose when she grabbed his shirt collar. "He called me a _menace!_ He said now that I was living on the streets, I was bringing _filth_ into his complex…How is that fair!"

"It's not. I'm sorry about Lewbert, and I'm sorry about your dad disowning you guys, but don't disown your friends and hobbies just because of a few assholes. That's all I'm saying." Carly bowed her head and pressed her lips together. Was she doing that to them? She didn't want to.

"I'm sorry Gibby, I just…I didn't want anyone seeing me like this."

"Well for one thing, the problem isn't going to be fixed overnight, so…" Gibby stopped and leaned over a water fountain, taking a quick swig. Carly slid her thumbs into her jean belt and leaned forward, watching him closely. He leaned back and wiped his mouth with his forearm. "So whether you want us to see you in a sad shape or not, we're your closest friends, we're going to see you anyway. No one's perfect, Sam and Freddie understand that. You've seen them in their worst moments, you've helped them out during those times, so now it's on the other foot. Give them the same privilege?" It took a few seconds for his words to sink in, but when they did, she understood him loud and clear. Her heart lifted up and her lips curled into a smile as she stared at him with a strong respect.

"Yeah. You're right….I don't know what I was thinking."

"Everything's just getting to you, that's all. All this stress and pressure, it's understandable." She lifted her eyebrows and sighed. When had he become good with advice? Maybe he just genuinely cared, a trait that not a lot of people had anymore. "Come on, class is almost over and I'm pretty sure Sam and Freddie have gone batty." She raised an eyebrow as Gibby put his arm around her shoulder and started moving towards the class.

"Those two have always been a bit crazy. When did you start giving out advice?" Gibby chuckled and moved his hand to the door. Carly swallowed hard and closed her eyes as he led her into the room. Within seconds, she felt someone run up to her and hug her. She opened her eyes and smiled at Sam. Freddie was standing behind her with his arms crossed. "Hey guys…I'm sorry I haven't been around, things are going horribly right now…"

"We understand," Sam responded. Her voice was soft and filled with love. Freddie's expression was relatively similar. It made her feel horrible for avoiding them the past week. She moved her gaze to Ms. Briggs and sighed, the woman was asleep at her desk. The entire class was watching her, it felt awkward to be the one who was late this time. Sam looked at the class and growled. "Hey! What are you looking at? Take a picture, it'll last longer." The class moved their attention back to whatever they had been doing before. Carly laughed nervously and tapped her textbook with nervous hands.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Not really, but we thought you weren't going to show up."

"I didn't want to skip school today. I never finished my project for history…" She heard a nearby student gasp in shock and shout out to the class.

"_Carly_ didn't finish her project, everyone!" She flinched and her friends slowly turned their glare upon the kid that spoke. It was the short, freckled kid of the class, Ted. Ted looked to her and stood from his desk. "What's been going _on_ with you? You've been so messed up, it's amusing." She stepped back and waited for Sam to pop the kid. Instead she felt Gibby brush past them and grab Ted's shirt collar. "Whoa hey, what are you doing?" She looked up and saw him pulling Ted close, glaring into his eyes ferociously.

"Is there a reason you find my friend's pain amusing? If you don't know what's going on, it's better to keep your big mouth shut." Ted began shaking as Gibby's grip loosened a bit and his face relaxed. "People naturally find other's pain to be funny. I'm sure you've seen videos of people face-planting the ground or getting hit in the nuts, and I'm sure you've laughed. Why did you laugh? You were able to because it was their pain, not yours. Humanity is greedy that way, and the students at this school are the same way, if it isn't _their_ problem, then they don't care and they can laugh. Similar to how you did Freddie over the whole 'first kiss' thing so long ago, similar to how you did Sam when Briggs made her scrub the classroom with a toothbrush a few weeks ago, but if it was _you_, I bet you wouldn't like people laughing at you." Ted swallowed as Gibby pushed him into his seat. Gibby cracked his neck and cleared his throat. "Now if you don't mind turning away from my friend during her time of struggle, I would appreciate that. If not, I'm sure I can find some treatment to give you that would turn most of the school's attention to you."

"W-What would you do?"'

"When was the last time a nerd's underwear was flown on the flagpole?" Ted paled and the class started snickering, as expected. Carly released the breath she'd been holding and turned her eyes to Gibby, she'd never seen that side of him before, it was impressive. Then again, she never really took the time to notice the caring side, rather the whacky and zany side. Gibby crossed his arms and gestured towards Carly. "Now, do you have something you want to say?"

"Sure…" Carly lifted her eyebrows as Ted faced her and smiled fearfully. "I'm sorry, shouldn't have said anything. I hope you're doing okay." She closed her eyes and chuckled as Ted turned back to Gibby. "Am I good now?"

"Sure, but I'll be watching you." He back to the group and pat Carly's shoulder. She was speechless, and a bit stunned, but happy that her friends would have her back. Gibby was right, her true friends would never change their thoughts on her just because of her sudden poverty. "Well Carly, you haven't missed much. Briggs didn't go over a lot today."

"Yeah, I still wish I wasn't late." She walked to her desk, followed by Sam, Freddie, and Gibby. Their desks were next to hers. Sam's was behind hers, Freddie's was to the right of Sam's, and Gibby's was directly in front of her own. She waited as the others sat down. "What are we going to do about iCarly? I mean…"

"We could try to do it," Freddie replied. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "Either Sam's house or yours." She flinched at his suggestion and averted her eyes from his. He leaned forward and put his arms to his desk, hanging his hands over the front edge. "What's the problem?"

"I don't know, my house…it doesn't look too good."

"So?"

"I'm not sure I want you to see it…" Their eyebrows rose and Sam quickly dismissed Carly's statement.

"It really doesn't matter what your house looks like. I know you don't want us to think of you as poor or anything, but look at it this way: It's a new chapter. Right? Things may be difficult, but no one said things got easier before getting difficult, right? I know what it's like, I'm not going to judge you, and neither is Freddie."

"I know. I'm not sure what I'm afraid of, really. Everything's happening too fast. I don't even know how to do iCarly in that house right now…"

"Simple, get a computer, a camera, and a techie that just so happens to be my boyfriend." Sam smirked and crossed her arms. "Combine those three things and you get a surefire way to continue iCarly. We're not going to let Nevel _win_, are we?"

"No. But he got what he wanted…we've lost everything-"

"But each other, Carly." She lifted her eyes and smiled as Sam cupped her hand over hers. "Isn't that the phrase? Lost everything but each other…you may have lost your house and everything, but we're still here. You can never really lose your friends. So, no more avoiding us, you got that?"

"Okay…" She leaned back in her seat. She felt like crying for joy, but held back on her tears. She should have known better than to avoid them, she knew that, but at least they were forgiving of it. "Spencer's working on the house, so maybe we could do iCarly at your place, Sam. I don't want to get in Spencer's way."

"Sounds fair enough." Hopefully they'd manage to do it without any surprise visits from unwanted people, such as Nevel. Now the only question was, what could they do on the upcoming iCarly? There really was nothing, but perhaps, they could think of something.

When Briggs woke from her nap, the entire class faced her. Carly couldn't help but to stare at her friends with pride, though, she was glad they all had her back.

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><p>So what did you think of Carly's friends sticking up for her, Gibby gives good advice doesn't he? A good chapter and letting her know they'll be there for her no matter what. It's important to have friends like those, especially in such rough, harrowing times.<p> 


	15. Run no more

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 15 (Run no more)<p>

Sasha stood on the front porch, trailing her finger along the walled border. She stopped for a moment and leaned forward, gazing out at the street. Socko's car was sitting at the curb, he was inside with Spencer and Lenny, working on the house. She wasn't so troubled by this neighborhood. Not as much as Carly and Spencer were, considering she had to live in a neighborhood like this for the last few years. They never did. However, she was nervous about the location. Could they be found by Mr. Clayton? Probably.

She didn't mind the house, really. The neighborhood, she could help Carly and Spencer get used to, but she wasn't sure she wanted to remain here forever. If Socko said it was a safe area, then she believed him. Maybe not as much as Spencer would, but she did at least trust the guy. She wanted to try looking for work, but with a baby in this place, she still couldn't trust the neighborhood enough to chance anything happening while she was away. It was a risk she refused to take, unless Spencer or Carly were around to make sure Blake was safe.

"Hey! Hey you!" Sasha drifted away from her thoughts and concerns as she heard a feminine voice calling for her. She looked over to see the neighbor that was on her porch when they first arrived, the woman was waving and smiling at her. The girl seemed young, close to her own age, and had a very kind face. "I'm Juanita." She smiled at the woman and moved to the side of her patio close to the neighbor. She had no qualms with talking to this lady. After all, how else besides making friends and making the best out of a bad situation, would any of them survive?

"I'm Sasha." She felt a nervous pang inside her, but understood why she would feel that way. Meeting someone new was always exciting, but at the same time, difficult to know whether they would like you or not. Being the distrustful person that she was, it was hard for her to simply connect with anyone. She watched as Juanita left her porch and came over to hers. The nervousness inside her grew, while at the same time, so did the excitement. "It's good to meet you."

"Same! So you just moved in, I see. Husband and children?" She practically blushed at the question, as innocent as it was. Did it really appear that way? She chuckled lightly and shook her head.

"It's a bit complicated, really. Carly is the oldest, she's Spencer's little sister. She's living with us. Blake is my son, Spencer's the dad, and Spencer is…well, he's not my husband." She didn't want to make herself sound bad, but it couldn't be avoided. She didn't _mean_ to have a child out of wedlock, but that didn't mean she regretted anything. "You're not the judgmental type, I hope…" Juanita laughed and waved her hand through the air. It was a pleasant response, something that made Sasha feel a little better.

"Of course not, I can understand having a baby and not being married. I wouldn't judge someone on that. Why?"

"Let's just say in the past, there have been those people." Besides Spencer's father and grandfather? Indeed. When she was on her own, she attempted to go to a few churches, but almost every church she went to was filled with old hags who looked down on her as if she were a slut or a whore for having a baby and no man beside her. The last church she found was actually much more accepting of her, everyone was friendly and helpful, but due to the loan shark, she was forced to move away from that place. It still hurt to think back on them, she'd been so scarred by everyone she met that the people at that last church actually had been helping to heal some of those scars. She dreadfully missed them.

"What about your parents? Aren't they around?"

"Uh, no…" She tried to contact her birth father a long time ago, when Blake had first been born. She hated to think about him, that man _never_ wanted anything to do with her growing up. Even now, he still didn't. Her heart clenched and her muscles tensed as she tried to push that man's memory from her mind. "Mom passed away back in '96." The girl frowned and looked at her apologetically. She exhaled softly and crossed her arms over, she hated when people told her how sorry they were that her mother was dead. It was personal and too much, especially when they didn't know who the woman was.

"You probably miss her, don't you? I know how it goes, I lost my mom some years ago, and not a day goes by that I don't think about her." She blinked and lowered her arms as her body started to relax. She hadn't expected that response, and in truth, she was glad for Juanita's statement. "I guess your dad's out of the picture, and I'm sorry if I brought up anything to make you feel uncomfortable…"

"It's okay. I'm uh…" Now she didn't know what to say, it was embarrassing. She shifted to the right and leaned sideways against the wall next to her. "Dad's been out of the picture for a long time. So…you lost your mom too? What was she like?" Probably a better woman than hers was, but at the same time, she could still respect her mother for at least trying to make money. She still had that resentment that made her want to be a better mother to Blake than her mom was to her, that same resentment helped her to realize she couldn't raise him alone. She watched as Juanita leaned against one of the pillars on the patio. The girl's face fell slightly and her shoulders lifted.

"She was a nice woman. Hard as hell to live with when I was a teenager, but I suppose I made it hard on her." Juanita chuckled awkwardly and closed her eyes. "She did what she could. We started getting closer just a few years before she passed away…Kidney failure." Sasha's heart sank and she slowly straightened herself up. She was struck speechless, what comfort could she give? At least Juanita and her mom had grown closer. She was only fourteen when her mom died, and so unknown that the child services didn't even bother to find her a home. Not that it mattered, she did better on her own back then. "In those last few years, she really showed how much she cared about me, always trying to do whatever she could to be the mother she wanted to be." Sasha frowned and looked off to the side, pushing down the anger and jealousy starting to rise up in her. She didn't need that emotion, not now.

"Your mom sounds very nice." Juanita paused for a minute, appearing to be getting the hint that Sasha was leaving. She didn't want to press the topic any longer, not for fear of becoming angry that both of her parents were crap to her. "Anyway, tell me a little about the neighborhood…"

"It's a bit quiet. I mean sometimes there might be some arguments between neighbors, but for the most part, everyone looks after one another. Except for the old man on the other side of your house…he's not all that friendly." She looked over to her other neighbor with a frown and slowly shook her head. It was a bit concerning to think that the old man wasn't friendly, because that just meant there was a chance he couldn't be trusted. If he couldn't be trusted, she wanted nothing to do with him. "If you leave him alone, he leaves you alone. That's pretty much how it goes."

"I see."

"Oh, I made a pie by the way. When Lenny said we were getting new neighbors, I wanted to make something of a welcoming gift." Tempting, and at the mention of the pie, her stomach roared with hunger. Could she help the fact that she loved pie? "It's a lattice peach pie."

"Peach?" Her mind instantly traveled to the warm smell of her favorite flavor. It wasn't enough that she loved pie, but peach was practically a delicacy. Her stomach begged her and her thoughts tempted her. She looked to the house and listened as someone hammered the wall inside. Spencer, Socko, and Lenny were still working on the house. With Carly at school, she had absolutely nothing to do. Spencer would surely appreciate having a warm pie to eat after all that work, the same for Carly, who would be coming home soon enough. "That actually sounds good. Do you want to meet my son? He's two." Juanita gushed and her eyes lit up with joy.

"Of course! I would love to. Maybe I can meet the rest of your family later?"

"Sure, I'll introduce you to Spencer when he's done working. Just let me go grab Blake and we'll be over, I think it'll be good to talk to someone without going nuts." As if she hadn't gone crazy over the years, to think she could _finally_ relax was exhilarating. Although, by that same respect, she was certain she couldn't relax just yet.

"Okay." She watched with a tiny smile as Juanita hurried over to her house. Her heart lifted and swelled in her chest, she just couldn't imagine possibly having a new friend. Maybe it was worth it to talk to Juanita and not shy away from the girl. After all, friends kept people sane in crazy times. Carly would probably go ballistic without Sam and Freddie, Spencer needed Socko around to keep his head on his shoulders, so maybe she needed someone around also.

She took a wistful sigh and started heading back in the house to grab Blake. This would be difficult for her, everything going on was difficult as she never felt herself having to depend on anyone besides herself. Now she was having to depend on Spencer, maybe depend on her friends, and much to her surprise, it felt _good_ to have people to fall back on. Now if only the loan sharks decided not to make her life hell and force her away from any new relationships or scare people away from her. Much like that church, whenever she found a good thing, something always had to come by and knock her down.

Did she want to admit to being afraid? No, but she couldn't deny the fear. What if she befriended Juanita, what if the loan shark found her and threatened her friend, going so far as to either kill the girl or tear a rift between them? What if they hurt Spencer? What if something happened to Carly, or worse, Blake? These were fears she had to push aside, and it was taking all of her strength just to keep from cracking down under all the pressure. She had to trust, had to put her faith in Spencer that he was right when he said things would be okay. She had to keep strong, she had to take support from others while also giving her own support. No more running. She couldn't do it. It was now or never, stop running and try to build a life, or keep running and possibly lose everything she held dear to her heart.

As she rested her shaky hand on the doorknob, a tear left her eye and she quickly shook it off. Her mom always ran, her father must have ran too, in order to avoid paying child support. She wasn't going to be like her mother, she made that promise, but the realization had finally hit her, up until this moment, she had been just like her mother. She slowly turned her gaze to Juanita's house and saw the girl wave at her before going inside. As she opened the door, she saw Spencer working on a door. Her heart continued to rise as she watched him. With a whisper, she spoke to herself and closed her eyes.

"I'm not going to run anymore."

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><p>So Sasha's making a big step in this chapter, and one that I think would be good in the long run. Learned a lot of things about her too, why she's where she is now, what's been going on in her life. Hope she finds that peace she's looking for, maybe Spencer can provide that.<p> 


	16. Bad Case of Pride

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: Finally fanfiction is working again, so here is the next chapter of this story, enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 16 (Bad Case of Pride)<p>

"Damn lawn mower!" Spencer cried out in frustration as he delivered a sharp kick to the cheap looking red mower, once more it was stalling and failing on him. He was glad Sasha was next door and couldn't see him in this panicked state behind the house. When he saw the front of the house, then the inside, he'd been righteously concerned, but that was before seeing the forest that was in the back! The grass was practically scraping his knees, there were stickers all over the place, and he'd just sacrificed one of his jeans to the life of working pants. "Socko! Socko!" He looked to the back window and waited as Socko opened it up and looked out at him.

"What? First time dealing with a lawn mower?"

"I don't need the sass…" This was so unlike him, but who could seriously blame him? He was doing all he could to keep calm, but was afraid he wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer. "How do you expect me to mow grass this thick with a cheap and shoddy mower like this? The thing can barely eat any of this stuff before breaking down." Socko leaned forward and stared at the mower thoughtfully. Spencer was getting a bit impatient and wanted to see if he could fix it, but he didn't even know what the problem was and didn't want mess anything up to the point that it was worse. "Where did you get this thing?" Socko continued to stare at the mower while rubbing his chin.

"I found it in an alley behind some of the homes near where people dump their trash bins. Seemed perfectly fine to me." He narrowed his eyes at his friend and smacked his forehead. As much as he appreciated Socko and adored his friendship, there were those occasions where he wanted to wring the idiot's neck dry. This was one of those times.

"So what you're telling me is you took a possibly broken down, cheap lawn mower from a back alley…You're aware we're trying to fix up this place as soon as possible, right? The faster the better, you know. Also, where'd Lenny go again?" After Sasha went over to the neighbor's an hour ago, Lenny said he had to do something real quick, but Spencer didn't hear what that was. "Did he say he was going to pick something up?"

"Yeah, he's actually getting some better tools right now. He should be back with his van and a better mower pretty soon. Sorry about that cheap one, Lenny practically chewed my head off when he saw I grabbed that one." Socko laughed nervously and Spencer rolled his eyes. Why was it Socko hadn't at least told him the mower was a piece of shit and Lenny went to grab one that would do the job?

"So instead of telling me this up front, you have me out here screwing around with a mower that you know isn't capable of cutting a slice of cheese?"

"Yep, just a little fun watching you get all hot under the collar." He laughed again and Spencer slowly exhaled, pushing down the innate desire to punch his best friend in the face. He grabbed the white towel on his shoulders and started wiping his face. "So just move the mower out of the way, Spence, and come inside. Have a drink or something. Where's your sister at?"

"Sam's place. She called an hour ago, said she was going to do her homework there, then do iCarly." He slapped his towel back onto his right shoulder and grabbed the handle of the mower, pulling it back from the grass. He turned his eyes to the stone pathway going towards the back alley where some trash bins were resting for the trash collector. He hummed and started pushing the mower towards the bins. When he returned to the house, he looked in the window to see Socko continuing to paint the walls. They had already removed the carpeting from the floors, ridding the home of all the stains, smells, and torn carpeting, and were going to replace it with light vanilla carpeting and were painting the walls a desert sand color. It was cheaper than wallpapers, in his opinion. "Looks good so far." Half the room was already done, they were going to put a couple of coats on. Socko looked back and nodded.

"Hey, you'll have a nice looking house by the time we're done here, that's what I said before and I'm standing by that word. Scout's Honor!"

"Spoken like a true person that was never a scout."

"Eh, all that goody-two-shoes life, it was never for me, you know that." He chuckled to himself and started walking around the house. He had to admit, he used to think his days with Socko's friendship were nearing a close. That the man was too crazy to be hanging around with, but now it seemed he was the perfect friend to have around at the moment. Where would they be right now if it wasn't for Socko? The thought scared the living hell out of him. Once inside, he made his way to the small table where his personal laptop was. He wanted to take a break and see how iCarly was doing, assuming Carly was serious about doing it still. Socko poked his head around the corner and lifted his eyebrows. "Going to watch the show?"

"Yeah. I just hope she's going to be okay, this whole thing has hit her pretty hard."

"You know. You could always ask for help from-" Spencer choked on air and lifted his left hand up, gesturing for his friend to quiet down. He knew who Socko was referring to, and he honestly didn't want to bother with it.

"Not another word." As he clicked the iCarly icon, his mind traveled to thoughts on his own mother. Socko walked over and folded his arms over, staring at Spencer and making him feel uneasy. "What?"

"What do you have against your mother, Spence? It's not like she's a bad woman…"

"I know that." His mom wasn't like the mother that Sasha had, his mother actually did care. That was the problem. The woman was divorced from Robert, but of course, he paid the judge to grant him custody, using his wife's own wealth to bribe the courts. It was one reason Spencer hadn't wanted to be a lawyer. They were supposed to uphold the law, not take bribes, but this time around no one seemed to care. "Would have been better off if we'd been living with mom, I'm sure. Ever since Dad's gone off to the military, she calls and asks if we want to go down to Florida, but Dad's an asshole."

"Your point?" Socko sat in the chair across from Spencer and leaned his arms onto the table. Spencer closed his eyes and exhaled softly. Normally he wouldn't talk about his mother, not to anyone, but Socko was his best friend of course. He didn't know a whole lot about his mother anymore, he hadn't heard from her in a year or two. It hurt him, but he knew it wasn't the woman's fault.

"Dad found ways to keep her from calling us, like hiding our numbers and so forth. I think it was because every time we talked to her, if something was wrong, she'd call Dad and complain about how poorly he's doing. This time would _definitely_ not be any different, and I _don't_ need the extra drama I would get if she managed to contact him." Socko's eyebrows rose and a grin grew onto his face, much to Spencer's confusion. He didn't understand if there was something funny about the whole thing. Either way, maybe it was his pride keeping him from reaching out to his mom, but what could she do? She'd probably do nothing but call up Robert and bitch at him for abandoning his children. "If anything, she's a last resort…so what's funny?"

"Nothing's _funny_, I just think it'd be interesting to see that all out brawl between your mom and dad. How come I've never heard about her?"

"She's a politician of some sort in Florida, a senator. Have you ever heard of Jessica Carlson?" Socko's jaw fell and his eyes froze in shock, it was almost as if he wondered what the hell Spencer was doing _here_. Spencer didn't think anything of it, he knew about his mom's family, the Florida Carlsons. Apparently they were a whole line of politicians, stretching all the way back to President Lincoln's era."I don't know the whole family history or anything, but I know where they began and ended-"

"Spencer, your mother is Jessica Carlson!" He rolled his eyes and shrugged, what was the big deal? So what, his mother was a senator. She had to change her name from Shay to her maiden name because she had been so disgusted by what Robert had done to her. Her brother and father were probably more famous than she was, as far as he knew. "I mean don't get me wrong, it's great and all that you're here, but…_why are you here?"_

"Uh…she's just my mother, and she comes from a political family. I really don't think she'd help us. Don't you think it'd be cause for scandal?" Then again, if she was worried about a scandal, she would never have continued to contact the Shays throughout these years. "I was like sixteen the last I saw her. Dad had her move up to Seattle, you know, when they met. She ran back to Florida after the divorce, to be with family. I still get calls from Uncle Ken, but I try to keep calls short. With a dad in the military, who knows if he's listening in…he'd always get pissed if we ever talked to mom, or even our uncle."

"Ken? Ken Carlson…the congressman…their father is Travis Carlson, a retired Senator."

"Dude. It's just my mother's family. That's all."

"Just your…" Socko smacked his forehead and Spencer raised a curious eyebrow. He was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable and regretted mentioning his mother's profession or name at all. "How can you say that? You know your mom's family isn't just Florida, right? I mean, that's where they're all at _now_, but their great, great grandfather…your third great grandfather, Walter Carlson actually dined with President Lincoln! He fought on the Union side next to Ulysses S. Grant!" Spencer rolled his eyes and shook his head, he was hating this more and more. Surely his mom's family wasn't all that great. He knew Socko was a history buff, but damn, why did he know so much about the Florida Senators?

"I have a question…why _care_? I mean, you shouldn't know so much about them…" Socko narrowed his eyes and stared at his friend as though he had another head.

"Dude. High School. Remember? We had to do a history project on someone noteworthy and I didn't want to do the usual cliché options. You went with your dad and told me to do a project on one of those Carlsons, I think it was Walter…Did I think anything of it at the time? No. I looked into them then and discovered they were a political family in Florida, and guess what, _now_ I know you're related to them. This isn't something you keep from your best friend, man."

"Yes. It is. If you don't want them going off on a tangent about how famous a part of your family is. Mom's a senator, so _what_. So what if one of her ancestors was some political guy that fought in the Union side of the civil war and dined with President Lincoln. So what? They're not perfect, they're just my family."

"And yet, you refuse to go to them for help? That's a nasty case of pride."

"I can do this _without_ help, I'm _done_ relying on my family members, okay?" He smacked his hand on the table and Socko jerked back in shock. He didn't mean to sound harsh, he didn't want to, but he was feeling too much of that irritation inside him. "My own father just kicked me to the curb, my grandfather has proven himself an asshole time and time again, all because I depended on them. You just got through telling me all about _my own mother's family_, so apparently they're some big well known political family. Well you know what? Tell me about any politician that would want to help me? Even if I'm her son. I'm a son that had a child outside of marriage, lost everything, quit school, lied to my father-"

"She's still your mother, Spencer." He froze, Socko's words hit him like a sack of bricks. The air grew dense and cold around him and he found it difficult to breathe under his friend's cold glare. He'd never seen Socko looking so intense. "You also said it yourself, you still get calls from your Uncle, her brother. Even if she's unable to call you, he can still get through to you. That tells me they care about you. So don't feed me the political bullshit, she's still your mother." He watched his friend slowly rise up from the table, continuing to hold onto Spencer's gaze. "If you're too afraid to ask them for help, fine, it's up to you, but I think you should think before throwing a whole side of your family under the bus just based off of their status. As your friend, I'm suggesting you not let pride destroy the one side of your family tree that might still give a shit. Now, I'm going to finish painting the master bedroom, enjoy iCarly and come help out whenever you're done."

"Okay…" He watched Socko walk away, a pain struck his chest and constricted his heart. For a moment, he thought he was having a heart attack. He frowned and looked guiltily at his feet. He knew Socko meant well, and he understood why he was so defensive of Spencer's mother and her family. It wasn't because she was political, Socko wasn't one to really care about that stuff. In reality, the reason they were still friends even today, they weren't so different. The choices Socko had made in his life, the lifestyle he'd grown up in, it cost him so much growing up. He'd lost his family due to his choices, he'd even gone so far as to shy away from whatever remaining family that he had. To that respect, Sock was truly on his own now, even the relatives that cared about him had given up on him.

He turned his eyes to the computer screen and tensed his body. He didn't want to think about all these problems right now, but he honestly couldn't help it. Too much was going on, too much preventing him from relaxing. Maybe he could call his uncle, ask him for advice regarding loan sharks, but then that would send a thought out that something was wrong. It wasn't that he didn't want his mother's help, he just didn't want to ask her for help. He didn't want to rely on anyone else, he wanted to figure things out himself, he wanted to make things better on his own. No more depending on his family, whether or not they'd actually help.

But then, there was a difference between simple advice and help, wasn't there? He moved his eyes to his phone that had been sitting next to his computer. He pressed his lips together and slowly shook his head. During all this hell, he actually heard from Uncle Ken. Ken was his mother's older brother, a very pleasant, but stern man. He wanted to know what was going on, that he'd seen the recent iCarly. To this degree, Spencer had to tell him that things were okay, he was figuring things out. Maybe it wasn't so truthful, but he thought he was getting the hang of it.

His sister's voice rang in his head and he quickly returned his gaze to the screen, smiling softly when he saw Sam and Carly on the screen. At least in this moment, he could have some time to go without worrying. At least, that's what he hoped.

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><p>Hope you enjoyed the chapter<p> 


	17. An Uncle's Support

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 17 (An Uncle's Support)<p>

Spencer rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together beneath his chin as he watched iCarly begin. He had to wonder if Sasha was going to watch, she would want to see it, so he had started recording the video for her. He hoped Carly would come up with some fun antics, as difficult as it might be for her in this time, but he would be proud of her if she was able to. As long as she didn't say anything too revealing, his family did still watch iCarly. Regularly. He didn't need anyone worrying about them.

As he eyed the scenery of the home, he was impressed with the Puckett family. Pam must have really made a life for herself, but at the same time, it was clear she was still struggling. The group was in the living room, which had floral wallpaper and burgundy carpeting. Behind them was a brown, three seat couch, two black end tables on either side, and an oval coffee table in the front. There were some plants hanging from the ceiling with leaves draping down and curling beneath the brown baskets they were in.

In the shot stood Carly, Sam, and Gibby, while Freddie held onto the camera as usual. Gibby was looking around in awe of the house, as though it were his first time being there. Carly stretched out her arms and grinned widely. "Okay iCarly lovers, we're here at Sam's house, our new place to shoot iCarly!"

"Go on Freddie, show them my home!" Sam exclaimed happily. Spencer raised his eyebrows and watched in awe as the camera started spanning the house. The home was actually not that much bigger than the house he was in now, although the living room was expansive. There was a small television set that the couch faced, and two windows on either side. On the other side of the living room was a oval oak table that Pam was sitting at. She smiled at the camera for a second, then covered her face with a shirt she was folding from a pile of laundry. "Anyway, that's just the living room, you don't get to see anything else, the camera's cord doesn't stretch far enough and we're using Freddie's technical equipment that he leaves at my place…and that's not much."

"Unfortunately it's come to this." The camera returned to Carly, who had a pout on her face. She quickly smiled and looked over at Gibby. "I was moping pretty badly earlier, but Gibby gave me some solid advice. I'm just glad I still have my friends right now." She folded her arms over and closed her eyes. "So much is happening right now, a lot that not many of you would understand. Just know that my dad's a much different person than I thought he was. Thanks to Nevel, we now have to shoot iCarly here because where I live now isn't spacious enough to do the things we would do on iCarly."

Spencer's face fell and his eyebrows rose high, that wasn't something he would have wanted to reveal. He turned his eyes to the cell phone and chuckled slightly. He still had the same number, but of course, a cheaper phone and was using phone cards from wal-mart now. Why he still had the same number escaped him, but at the same time, he did enjoy calls from his Uncle. _"Hopefully Uncle Ken isn't watching iCarly right now and she doesn't say anything to raise suspicions about what's going on…"_ Would it be too much to ask for? Probably. If it wasn't Ken, it would be his Aunt Regina or his cousin Michael, who was just a year younger than he was. Many times Ken would call and Jessica would be there, ready to talk to her son. It was nice to know they'd found a loophole with Robert's 'rule'.

"So what do we have planned for today, Carly?" Sam turned her head towards her mother and grinned. "Maybe make a mess out of the laundry pile mom pulled from the dryer?" Carly laughed and Pam quickly protested. "Or maybe we can play 'make my boyfriend-'" Suddenly Sam stopped talking, her eyes widening in a mild panic. Spencer furrowed his brow as he watched his sister ask her friend what was going on. "It's nothing, just not feeling too well. Can you, uh…hold on a minute, I have to go to the restroom real fast."

"Okay?" With that, Sam bolted from view, holding her stomach and her right hand over her mouth. Carly closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head. "Probably nothing to worry about. So we'll wait for her." Carly moved to the couch and sat down, putting her hands behind her head and sighing softly. "So in case you're all wondering, yes we've moved out of the house. Well…we were kicked out, Dad decided to stop paying rent. Go figure, he goes overseas and then decides to treat his children like-" She stopped talking and looked up as she heard Sam vomiting from the background. Her face twisted in disgust and she quickly stood up. "Damn, I wonder if she ate something rotten. I'm going to go check on her." Pam had already gotten up to go see what was up with her daughter. Carly hurried off and the camera shifted to Gibby, who was frowning at the door.

"Man I wonder if she went to that new restaurant downtown, _Salome_. I got sick after eating there once." Spencer shuddered at the thought. He'd been there himself and it was a very unpleasant experience. Freddie and Sam did mention a date there recently, so maybe it was food poisoning. Why the hell hadn't anyone decided to close down that restaurant yet? "Anyway, once the girls get back, I think we were actually going to perform that old 'what am I sitting on' game. Though if Sam's not feeling well, then probably not. What do you think, Freddie?"

"Well if she's not feeling well and doesn't want to do anything, I understand that."

"Yeah."

"Hey, I've been meaning to say, thanks for talking to Carly earlier. Sam was pretty upset that she was avoiding us…" Freddie set his camera down on the coffee table and sat on the couch with Gibby. Spencer pressed his lips together and felt a tense air around him. He didn't know she'd been avoiding them, surely he would have tried to talk to her about it. "I know she's having a hard time with everything going on…"

"Friends support each other, that's pretty much what I told her. Things will work out, I'm sure of it. Sometimes you have to go through hell before you can reach heaven."

"Yeah, we'll stand behind Carly as long as we can." The girls came back into the room and Freddie quickly stood up. "Sam, are you all right?" Sam cleared her throat and waved her hand in the air.

"Yeah Freddie, just grab the camera, let's keep going." Freddie grabbed the camera and put it on the girls. Sam looked worse for wear, as if all the energy in her had just been sucked out of her. "Okay, so...I'm just going to sit down…and let you guys continue. I need to sit."

"Okay."

iCarly went on for another hour without a hitch, though Sam had spent a great majority of it on the couch. She looked ready to vomit at every turn. Lenny had returned at some time with a new mower and a bunch of tools to help work on the house. He was currently mowing the lawn. Socko had finished the first coat of the bedroom and was working to paint the other bedroom. Spencer was about to go help, but his phone started blaring. He turned his gaze to the phone and lifted his eyebrows, the caller ID stated it was his Uncle.

"Crap…" As he picked up the phone, his lips fell and his eyes closed. This was exactly what he dreaded, now the man would be asking him a whole bunch of questions. Of course, if his mother were around, she'd probably be doing all the talking. He took a deep breath and pressed the answer button, slowly bringing the phone to his ear. "Hey Uncle Ken. What's up?"

"Just saw iCarly, Spencer." The man's deep voice filled Spencer's head, almost calming his nerves. Ken had always had a calm, soothing, but at the same time, commanding voice. It was strange really, but he suspected the man's compassionate fatherly side had something to do with it. "You didn't tell me that your father kicked you out. Are you okay? Is _Carly_ okay?"

"Yes, we're fine…" He tried to hide the uncertainty in his voice. He had no proof that things would be okay, he only had to do whatever he could. "I'm actually planning to look for a job right now…my uh, the museum didn't accept my artwork." Ken gasped and clicked his tongue.

"I'm sorry to hear that, your mother was hoping it would make it in." Spencer's heart lifted and a smile smoothed over his lips. It was nice to know that his mother did support him. "So you're going to try and find work? Do you have enough money to sustain yourself? Where are you living right now?" And thus began his uncle's worries. His lips thinned and his shoulders slumped. He was _not_ going to ask for help.

"We're fine. We found a place. Well, Socko found a place for us."

"Socko? That odd friend of yours?" He could feel Ken smirking through the phone, chuckling at the thought. His mother and uncle had their thoughts on Socko. They respected him and were glad that he was Spencer's friend, but they often stated their concerns over how Socko acted at times and the things he did. Such as, making neon socks. "I hope it's a good place…but Carly didn't sound too satisfied."

"Well, I'm working on the house, but it's the best we can afford right now." He froze and mentally slapped himself. Immediately he wished he could take those words back, now Ken would try and offer money.

"Spencer. How much money do you have right now?"

"Uh…enough?" He knew his uncle better than to expect him to believe everything would be fine. He also didn't like to lie to the man, he respected him more than he respected his own father. "Everything is _fine_, Uncle Ken. Believe me, I am doing the best I can."

"Spencer, level with me here. You're taking care of your little sister, a girlfriend and a son. You have no job yet, and by how Carly sounded throughout the webshow, not in a very good living environment. How can you satisfy me that everything is 'okay'? You know how worried your mother may get if she knew all this?"

"Don't tell her anything, please. I don't want her getting worried or mixed up in all this." He prayed the man would keep quiet, but he knew chances were slim on his mother not finding out anything. After all, whether Ken said anything or not, Jessica did watch iCarly. Ken took a deep breath. Spencer heard heavy footsteps and the sound of curtains shifting, which probably meant Ken was looking out the window.

"You know your mother better than that. She'd know whether you hid it from her or not. She knows Blake is your son, of course."

"Yes, I know, you were there for that earful…" The last time they spoke, Jessica was with Ken. She was upset that Spencer had sex without protection. She wasn't worried about it causing problems for her, but she did let him know that she wanted to help. She wanted what was best for him, for Carly, and for Blake. Spencer mocked his mother for a moment, chuckling. "'How could you not at least wear a condom? I thought you were raised to wait for marriage! You should be glad she came back to you and isn't forcing you to pay child support, but you have a big responsibility now!' And on and on…" Ken chuckled and Spencer's smile grew a bit more. "A better reaction than my father had."

"It would appear so, but you know Jessica would never disown her own. She does care about you. We all do. Regina was just telling me how much she wants to board a plane and bring you all home here…" Spencer's eyes glazed over as he stared out the window wistfully. As much as he would love that, he couldn't accept it. Maybe things would be better, but he had to do this himself. Automatically he was assuming Sasha wouldn't be pleased if he just gave up like that, but she seemed more like she'd be the type to tell him to take their help if they offered it. "We're all ready to do that, you know. All you have to do is say the word, your father can't do anything now…"

"Why? Why did my dad have so much power over her? Over all of you..." He heard more footsteps and listened as the sound of a coffee mug clinked onto a table. Then came the sound of someone sitting on a mattress. "I'm thirty years old, you don't have to spare me or make things softer for me…after what's been going on, I'm pretty much willing to accept my dad's the greatest asshole on the planet."

"I don't know." Ken chuckled and Spencer felt his heart cry out for an answer to a question that had plagued him for years. "Your father made some threats after paying off the judge. He went so far as to say he'd bring forth false accusations that could very well ruin all of us politically _and_ morally…"

"Such as?"

"One accusation he said he'd generate, and that Colonel friend of his, Colonel Morgan, was willing to help…was that your mother was having extramarital affairs on the side." Spencer's jaw fell and immediately he felt a flash of rage shoot through his body. How could his father do something like that! "Your mom was ready to keep fighting, even if she lost her career, but the more your father squeezed, the more our dad was forced to tell her to stop pushing before the man did something worse. Once Robert realized that the political career wasn't her weakness, he said he was willing to take matters elsewhere…Spencer, I really don't want to talk about all this…"

"I-I'm sorry about that…" Spencer's muscles were tensed and his jaw locked tight. His father had done everything possible to keep his mother away, but why? "I know I shouldn't press, but…why was dad so persistent?"

"I don't know. As far as I know, he just didn't want your mother to win."

"Well it's out of his hands _now._ Our lives have turned to shit because of him, and he doesn't even care!" Once more he slapped himself mentally, groaning with frustration as he'd just revealed that things were not going so well. "We'll find a way, Uncle Ken. Don't worry."

"You know you can't say that and expect us _not_ to worry. Please, if you don't want to at least come to us, let us give you some help to afford something better?" His throat tightened and he slowly shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I can't…I want to, but, the whole reason my dad disowned me was because I was 'irresponsible' and I was depending on his money for so much. I need to do this on my own."

"It isn't irresponsible to accept monetary help when it's offered. That's the difference…"

"I know, but I have to prove this to myself, to Sasha, to…to Carly and Blake. It's a pride thing, I guess." He waited as his uncle remained silent for what seemed an eternity. The man took a deep breath and sighed.

"All right Spencer, but please know that your mother, myself, all of us…we'll still be here if and when you decide to call on us."

"I know you will be. And thank you." He wiped a stray tear from his eyes and closed them, dreaming only of how life could have been like if he had been with his mother all this time. He opened his eyes once more and frowned, remembering the loan sharks that had destroyed his apartment. "I have a question for you. It's just a thought. Have you ever dealt with loan sharks?"

"Loan sharks?" Ken paused and Spencer silently prayed the man wouldn't read between the lines. Ken's voice filled with extra concern and grew shaky. "Spencer, you're not involved with these types, are you?"

"Me personally? No…I was just wondering about them. You know, doing a little research." His Uncle paused again, possibly debating the validity of Spencer's statement. "I was wondering about people who get caught with them, how do they escape?"

"It's difficult once you get mixed up with them, and dangerous too. The best thing to do if you can't pay them off is to call the police." The man hesitated again and took a breath before continuing. "Spencer, if you're having trouble with loan sharks, please tell us. We can do _something_."

"Nothing to worry about, Uncle." He gave off a fake smile and slowly shook his head. He already regretted bringing it up. His uncle would likely want to pay it all off somehow. Politicians knew how to handle these things without them coming to light. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to say something.

"If it wasn't something that affected you, then why would you bring it up?"

"Well uh…"

"I know you don't want to make your mother worry, or anyone else for that matter, but seriously…"

"Well you know T-Bo down at the groovy smoothie? I think he's had a run in with one."

"Spencer." Ken's voice fell flat and Spencer cringed, he knew that wouldn't work. Was it in his voice? How could his uncle tell he was hiding something? "What's going on?" After a second hesitation, Ken sighed and continued. "Okay I'll bite, who is this loan shark that _T-Bo_ is dealing with?"

"Oh, some guy named Clarence Clayton. I keep telling T-Bo to call the police or even move to where they can't find him. It's not working!'

"Clayton? Why does that name sound familiar…Anyway, a question for you. Does Sasha know about us?"

"I've told her about mom…" Sasha knew his mother was a politician somewhere, he told her all about his family when they first dated. "I wouldn't keep that from her."

"Well that's good, I'm proud of you. Your mom is, we all are. Your mom wants to talk to Sasha, you know, to meet the mother of your child. You thinking of marrying her?" Spencer's heart lifted and joy filled his body as he imagined Sasha all dressed in white, walking down that aisle. His lips formed a wide grin as his heart danced inside him.

"I would love to marry her. You think Mom would be happy about that?"

"I think we would all be thrilled to see you marry someone who makes you happy. Seems to me this girl makes you happy."

"More than you could ever know. I'd do anything to make her happy."

"That's love, or at least part of it." Ken took a breath and clicked his tongue. "I need to go check on dinner, I'm making the food tonight, surprising Regina with a romantic meal."

"Awesome, I hope that goes well."

"Indeed. Let me leave you with some final words. Doing whatever makes the woman you love happy can sometimes mean putting your own feelings aside for her."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind…"

"Have a good day, Spencer."

"Thanks, you too, Uncle Ken." The man hung up and Spencer pulled the phone from his ear, sighing quietly. What did Ken mean by that? Perhaps ridding himself of that infernal pride? What would make Sasha happier? Protection, shelter, anything that made her feel safe. He wanted to show her that he could do this, though. He wanted to prove to her that he was responsible. Whatever it took to do that, he would do.

He lifted his eyes to the screen door and raised an eyebrow when he saw a familiar man knocking on his door. After taking a second to debate who this man was, shock made him freeze up. James 'Carl' Greene. "Officer Carl?"

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><p>So your uncle offers to help you. To send you money, to send you any kind of assistance whatsoever, and out of your own pride...you turn him down. Really Spencer? Really?<p> 


	18. All for you

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 18 (All I do, I do for you)<p>

"Officer Carl? What on earth are you doing here?" Spencer asked as he opened the door for the man he hadn't seen in years. At least not since around the start of iCarly. The memory of that nauseating mistake they made on the billboard came to mind, it was cringe-worthy. James 'Carl' Greene moved inside, smiling pleasantly. He had a coffee cup in his right hand and was wearing a grey t-shirt with some smudges on the chest along with faded brown jeans, a definite change from the police uniform he'd seen a long time ago.

"My fiancé said I should come over here." Spencer's eyebrows rose and he pointed next door with surprise. As James walked to the couch, Spencer poked his head outside and glanced at Juanita's home. A brown Pontiac was seated at the curb in front of the place. "I went to visit and she was talking to your girlfriend, told me that you moved in next door. I was surprised, I never thought I'd see your face again." He chuckled nervously and closed the door. Would it be too much to hope that the man wasn't still sore about the whole 'pee on Carl' thing?

"It's definitely a surprise. You're not still sore about the whole sign mess, are you? Cause in the case that you are…" The man laughed and waved his hand through the air.

"Don't worry about it, besides Carl's just my middle name. You can call me James. The whole thing with the sign was just a mishap, I understand that, no real reason to hold any ill will towards your family for that. I'm surprised old Lenny managed to get anyone in this house." Spencer raised an eyebrow and watched as James sipped his coffee. "I don't want to scare you or anything, but I had to make a citizen's arrest on the people that last lived here, they had an illegal amount of marijuana, and other drugs, in this place. That's why the house looks so bad, nobody has ever wanted to move into a house like this, afraid they'd have to deal with the smell of drugs and whatnot." His heart sank and his eyes darted to the bare floors. They had used an abundant amount of cleaners to get a strange odor out, but once they removed the carpets and fragranced up the air, the smell was gone. James lifted his head and smiled. "I'm impressed to see this place turning around. Let me know if you need any help with anything, I'd be more than happy to help out."

"Yeah, I'll do that." He took a seat on the other end of the couch and tapped his foot on the floor. He wondered how helpful having a police officer next door could be. Maybe James could do something about these loan sharks that were on his tail. "Hey, can I ask you something? A legal thing…"

"Shoot. Just know I'm off duty right now, so anything you tell me, if it's something serious, I can't do anything about." James leaned back and rested his arm on top of the sofa. Spencer slowly nodded his head and took a deep breath. Of course he understood that, he'd had enough criminal justice to know all that. He even understood a thing or two about loan sharks, but was hoping his own thoughts on the subject were wrong. It was pretty much known throughout the criminal justice field that the police couldn't do anything for a loan shark, nor did loan sharks put anything in writing to prove you borrowed money from them. What this meant, clearly, was the only way to get rid of them was to pay them off in full.

"I have a friend of mine, an acquaintance, that borrowed money from one of these, uh…loan sharks…" The man's face fell and he started to cringe. This did not make him feel any better. "Having a degree in Criminal Justice, I think I already know the answer, but…how would one get these loan sharks off their tail?" James slowly shook his head and set his cup on his leg.

"Then your friend is screwed. Unless he pays them off, there's absolutely no way they'll leave him alone until they've either been paid off or your friend is dead." Fear struck him like a hurricane and the color quickly fled his body. He felt James's questioning eyes upon him and started to feel his hands trembling. James slowly sipped his coffee and closed his eyes. "More than just a friend, isn't it…"

"Well…"

"Spencer, are you the one involved with a loan shark?" He shook his head and turned his eyes towards the window looking out at Juanita's home. James followed his gaze and frowned, possibly catching Spencer's hint that he was referring to Sasha. "So Sasha, then? Loan sharks are deadly. I can offer protection on this street, that's about it. If anyone comes to your house, it's possible to get me over here faster than any other police officer's going to. Any idea how much is owed?"

"Over ten grand, I'm sure interest has piled up…We don't have that kind of money."

"Why do you think loan sharks prey on the poor? They're not creditors, not licensed, they're _thugs._ Illegal money lenders, and getting mixed up with them is probably the most costly mistake that anyone can ever make in their lives. Sasha's lucky to be here."

"Yeah…I don't know how she'd feel about me telling you that just now, because-" James lifted his hand and Spencer silenced. He was more concerned about Sasha being afraid that anyone who knew about her mix with the loan shark would just run off.

"All things considered, you can just assume I discovered it on my own."

"Yeah, thanks…she needs some friends that won't be scared off right off the bat. I think we all do." They needed strong friends, otherwise they'd all go crazy. His fear was life getting worse and worse. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. "God I need to find a job, and here I am renovating this house." James lifted an eyebrow and looked around the living room. No carpet, bare walls, dust everywhere.

"You have a lot of work to do."

"My friend Socko, and Lenny, are helping out."

"Good. Tell you what. You should start putting applications out, while you're job searching, I'll help Socko and Lenny. Sound like a plan?"

"I guess."

"Hey, you need to do what you can for Sasha and Blake." Spencer opened his eyes and smiled slightly as he met James's eyes. "I saw that son of yours in your lady's arms, you don't know how lucky you are. You need to do everything you can to take care of them, same for your little sister. What you should be doing right now is looking for a job."

"I don't even have a car."

"Take the bus."

"Money-"

"Will come once you get the job. Still concerned? Walk." The words chilled him to the bone, but he couldn't deny the truth that lay within them. Things were so bad that he was just coming up with excuses and negativity. This had to stop. "All the money you do have right now will dry up soon enough if you can't find work. Not only that, if you're dealing with these loan sharks, it makes matters worse."

"They don't know where we are right now." That may put them at an advantage, but in reality it was only a matter of time before the thugs found them. Then what? Having James next door would help, but for how long? He was scared, scared for the safety of his family. He really didn't want to lose them. "I'll do anything to keep my family protected. To keep them safe…"

"Good, that's the way it should be. It'll be hard to find a job in this economy, so it's best that you get started as soon as possible."

"Let me just say it's been years since I've looked for a job…" James clicked his tongue and Spencer shifted in his seat. He was embarrassed to admit to that, but it was the truth. He'd been relying on his artwork for too much. There was more truth to the fact that he never looked for a job in his life except for the one time he wound up working as a dental assistant. It was a shitty job, the best he could find, and something he never wanted to do in his life. "So what do I do?"

"Well." James whistled once and slowly stood up. "I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to get in your best dress shirt, tie, slacks, and you're going to go out and start applying for jobs. Don't leave your woman hanging in the wind, you want to prove yourself to her, right?"

"More than ever…"

"Get started now. And by now, I mean _right now_."

"But Socko and Lenny-"

"I'll join them, they're not your primary concern." Already it seemed the neighbor was getting into his police officer mode. He chuckled and stood up. He was mildly intimidated, but at the same time, inspired to go out and start his hunt now. James was right, Sasha was the primary concern here. "Tell me you have a nice shirt and tie…"

"I do, I do, no worries."

"Go get dressed, I'll talk to your friends."

"All right." He rushed into his bedroom and ran for his good clothes, his family first on his mind. He knew he didn't have the money for a bus right now, but that was fine, he could simply walk. Unless of course, Socko let him use his car, he'd have to ask. After all, Socko let him drive Carly to work and back. It was a temporary luxury, as once the house was done being worked on, Socko wasn't going to be hanging around as often. It was best to utilize what resources he had while he still had them.

Soon after he was dressed and groomed, he was standing in front of Socko's car with Sasha, Blake and Juanita. Sasha was eyeing him with immense pride. She reached up and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad you're going out to look for a job now, rather than later."

"We only have so much money, I want to be able to take care of you." He hugged her waist and looked down at Blake, who was in between them. Blake threw his arms up and wrapped his tiny limbs around Spencer's husky chest. Spencer smiled with pride and rubbed Blake's head. "Hey little guy, want to wish Papa luck in his job search?"

"Dada, job?"

"That's right, I'm going to look for a job to take care of you, mommy and aunt Carly."

"Yay!" He lifted Blake and hugged his son close. Sasha grinned and rested her hand onto Blake's back. Blake moved his arms around Spencer's shoulders and laughed. Spencer grinned happily and gazed at his son with admiration and love. Having a son, it gave his life meaning. Sasha, Blake, Carly, these were the reasons he wanted to make things better. Blake probably didn't understand it yet, but one day he would. Everything Spencer did, he would do for them. He met Sasha's loving gaze and leaned forward, kissing her lips, not caring if she wound up slapping him or not. Although, much to his satisfaction, she actually was coming around and not smacking him for every kiss or romantic hug he gave her.

"I recorded iCarly for you."

"You did? Thank you! I was worried I wouldn't be able to see it…"

"Yeah, you and Juanita are getting along well?"

"Yeah, I think I might have made a good friend for once." She smiled happily as Juanita hugged her. Spencer had nothing but pride in his heart, he was amazed that she was making friends now. He looked into her eyes as Blake reached for her, she took him and cuddled him close. Spencer reached up and caressed her face, holding onto her gaze.

"I'm glad you're starting to be happier, you deserve every bit of happiness in your life. You, Blake, Carly…you all deserve to be happy. I love you, and there's _nothing_ in this world that I would trade you for." He watched as her cheeks turned a shade of red. He knew how much it meant for her to hear that, and he wanted to remind her of it every day. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Spencer…I love you." She kissed his lips and smiled at him. "You better get going, there's a lot of places out there."

"I'll find something. How hard can it be."

"Pretty hard, but I have faith in you…" His heart swelled and he opened the door. She said it, those words that he loved hearing. Just knowing she trusted him, had faith in him, it was enough to drive him into a state of euphoria. He felt such triumph, such victory in knowing how much she loved him.

"That's all I ask." He entered in his car and shut the door, watching as Sasha and Blake waved him off. He had the utmost confidence that he'd find work, no matter how long it took, he'd find a job somewhere. Though it did piss him off that the economy had to be as messed up as it was, now, in _his_ lifetime. He took a deep breath and started driving off, gazing wistfully in the rearview mirror as Sasha and Blake's form faded into the distance.

* * *

><p>Well the job search has begun, hopefully he'll find something.<p> 


	19. The Good Grandfather

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 19 (The Good Grandpa)<p>

Carly woke up the next morning on Sam's couch, she felt like staying overnight and asked Spencer if it was all right. He had been fine with it. The sunlight poured in on her face, stinging her eyes, it had been a dark night and she was not ready to greet the morning sun. With a loud hiss, she pulled her covers over her face and heard Pam chuckling from the kitchen. "I told you last night you shouldn't sleep on the couch."

"You didn't tell me about the sun," she replied with a groan. She heard Pam laugh and tried desperately to close her eyes. They were in pain now and there was absolutely no way to force herself to go back to sleep. In defeat, she pushed the covers off her and slowly sat up. "What time is it?" It was Friday, but school was off for the day due to it being a teacher workday, or some other school function that she wasn't aware of. "It feels like morning…"

"Well it's eleven forty-eight, Sam's not up yet." That was unfortunate, but Sam had still been feeling bad throughout the day and night. She heard the girl wandering around during the middle of the night, so clearly something was up with her. When asked, Sam said she wasn't sure it was food poisoning because she and Freddie had the same meal on their recent date. He wasn't sick. She had been saying it could be from anything, considering she ate more than she should.

"You think it's food poisoning?" Carly rubbed her eyes and slowly stood up, shaking her head and trying to adjust her vision to the daylight. There wasn't much she wouldn't do for a dark room without windows. The closet behind the table was very tempting.

"I don't know, but if she doesn't get better, I'm going to have to take her down to the clinic." Carly nodded and pressed her lips together, staring curiously at Pam. She knew the two went to a free clinic somewhere, those things literally were godsends to poor people. Pam turned from the sink and pointed at the cell phone on the table. "You got a phone call by the way, about an hour ago."

"Really? Who was it?"

"I don't know, didn't check." Carly rushed over to her phone and flipped it open, sighing at the primitive design. She was going to have to get used to the flip phones. Nokia was not a bad brand at all, really. The people at the phone store were very welcoming when she had to trade in the phones. She clicked the missed calls and studied the most recent missed call, gasping with delight. Pam smiled at her as she washed her hands under the water. "So who is it?"

"Grandpa!" Pam did a double take and raised an eyebrow as Carly bounced happily. She stopped and looked to the older woman with a nervous chuckle, understanding her confusion. "Not granddad, my other grandpa. Mom's dad."

"Oh, you guys still talk to them?" Pam turned off the sink and grabbed a kitchen towel from the counter beside her. Carly nodded and watched as the woman dried off her hands. "I just assumed your mother's family was out of your lives. I was mistaken?"

"Well, it's complicated really." How could she explain the whole thing with her mother? She didn't even understand it all. A nostalgic feeling rushed over her as she turned her eyes to the cell phone, smiling softly. The first memory she had of her mother, the last memory of physically seeing the woman, was when she was only three years old. Her mom's brown hair rushed down to her neck and blossomed out like feathers, her beautiful peach colored lips smiled down at her and laughed as she cuddled her baby close. In truth, Sasha reminded her so much of her mother. "Dad sent her away, I was only three…I suppose I couldn't understand why…" Pam frowned and meshed her brow together. She tossed the towel onto the sink with a sigh and shook her head.

"That man…The more I hear about him, the more I want to bash his head open with the first thing I can get my hands on." Carly bowed her head and felt her heart sink. Even she was beginning to hate her father.

"Yeah…" Pam looked at her with concern and lowered her voice, putting her hand to Carly's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It just makes me angry to think of how your dad would treat his own family."

"It's okay." She lifted her head and shrugged away the pain the best she could. It was still too damn hard, but time healed all wounds. Right? "Anyway, if you met mom, I think you'd like her. I talk to her and Uncle Ken whenever they call. You know, mom has to do it through my Uncle because Dad's put some kind of restriction on her…I can't really understand, Uncle Ken never tells me when I ask, so there must be something bad about it. After what Dad and granddad did…I'd believe almost anything…"

"I can understand that. You call your grandfather back, I'm going to go check on Sam." Carly nodded and walked out of the kitchen. She took a seat on the couch and threw the blanket over her legs, the sunlight no longer bothered her. Tears brimmed her eyelids as she called her grandfather back. After a few anxious rings, Travis answered the phone. Carly smiled bright and breathed in. "Hey Grandpa, you called?"

"Yes, how are you doing, dear?"

"I've seen better days, but I'm okay." She crossed her legs over and looked towards the window, thinking of how ironic it was that the tables had turned and she was the one staying overnight at her best friend's home, rather than Sam doing it. She had wondered where Melanie was, but then, she'd forgotten Melanie was still at the boarding school. "What are you doing? Isn't it almost two over there?" She wasn't too sure on her time zones, whether it was two hours or three hours ahead of her.

"Actually it's almost three." She nodded and lifted her eyebrows, she'd have to remember this. "I just got done having a small lunch. You sound like you just got up."

"Yeah, a few minutes ago. I'm over at Sam's house right now. She's not feeling too well."

"I saw, I was watching iCarly yesterday. Are you and your brother okay? How is Blake?" She grinned and thought about how much joy her grandfather must feel about having a great grandchild. She knew he wanted to meet Blake, they all did. Maybe now they could, if Spencer could ever find the time or money for a plane trip to Florida.

"Blake's great. If only he could understand what's going on, but at the same time, I think it's better that he doesn't know." He would when he was older and they were still stuck in the same rut. Would things ever get better? Then it dawned on her, the first time she really gave it any thought. Her face paled and her lips started to quiver. Her final year of high school, would she be able to get into college? "Oh my god…Grandpa, how am I going to pay for college…"

"What do you mean?"

"You know how Dad kicked us out…he's left us with nothing…"

"I know, Kenneth told me everything. He spoke with Spencer yesterday." She frowned and slowly closed her eyes. Why was she not surprised that they all knew what was going on already? At least someone else understood what they were dealing with. "Carly, things will work out. Trust me, things have a way of working out for the better."

"I know. I'm scared, though…it doesn't help, either, that those loan sharks are after Sasha."

"Yes, Ken told me about that. The man's name is Clarence Clayton?" Hearing that name sent fear burning through her veins. She hated to think that everyone she knew could be in danger because of that man. Though, it was Sasha who felt more of the guilt. She could only hope she never made the same mistake some day.

"Yeah, that's his name. Sasha borrowed ten grand to take care of Blake before she came to us, and now that they know she's with Spencer, they're still a threat. I don't think they've found us yet, but…I'm scared. When and how could we ever pay that off? Spencer says loan sharks give interest and Sasha mixed with them a year ago, so it could be up to _twenty_ grand by now! How could we ever pay that off…" She didn't want to spill all that to her grandpa, she knew Spencer wouldn't want her to, he never wanted to worry their family. She couldn't help herself, right now, Travis was the closest person in her family that she could talk to. At least they still felt like family. "Where could we get that money from…"

"It couldn't be that, well…" She slowly opened her eyes and listened as her grandfather started shuffling through some papers. What was he doing? "Kenneth asked why the name was familiar, but I recognize the name. Here it is…Clarence wasn't always up in Washington. Back in the day a little before I was active in politics, back in the ice age my dear." Carly chuckled slightly and breathed in calm air, she loved how her grandfather always tried to leave humor in a tense situation. "Just as we weren't always in Florida, I knew Clarence personally in New York, we worked on Wall Street."

"Wall Street?"

"Yes, I was a stockbroker fresh out of college, Clarence was fresh out as well, but a year behind me. I taught him a thing or two about the trade. When I followed my father's footsteps and dipped my hand into politics, we lost contact. I'm surprised to hear he's become a loan shark…that's messy business right there…" Carly just about flipped over in shock, her grandfather actually _knew_ the man? She wondered if this could be helpful in any way, but at the same time, there was probably nothing he could do.

"A politician's son getting mixed up with a woman that has a loan shark after her…I can't see that as being very good…"

"Your mother is close to her own retirement, I doubt she honestly cares if anyone tries to put her down politically for things that have gone on in her own family. However, this Clarence fellow…you don't worry about that, my dear." She lifted her eyebrows and pulled her lips inward. What was there not to worry about? "I can almost guarantee that will not surface, besides, your mother wouldn't have to do anything about it. I'm not in politics any longer and you're my granddaughter, if Clarence thinks he can put one over on my family, he's got another thing coming…"

"Grandpa don't…I don't want anything bad to happen. I don't want you guys to get in trouble, and Spencer wouldn't be happy knowing I told you about the loan shark."

"Carly, your brother has a big case of pride." Carly looked to the side and nodded knowingly. It was not a surprise in any way. "He turned down Ken's offer to help because he wants to prove to all of you that he can do this on his own." She smacked her forehead and groaned. She _knew_ Sasha believed in him, she trusted him, why did he feel the need to 'prove himself'.

"We have no doubt he'd be able to, it's just…it's a little hard right now…The smart thing to do would be to take Uncle Ken's help, wouldn't it?"

"The offer's always going to be there. I'm sure if Spencer sees the need to take the offer, he will. Your brother's smart."

"I hope so…" He might not be that smart if he really turned down Ken's help. They couldn't just sit idly by and do nothing! Ken was respectful too, he wouldn't force their help if Spencer adamantly refused. This was very bad. "If it all goes to hell, Grandpa…I want you to know I love you guys." Where that came from, she didn't know, but it had to be said. Staring down an uncertain future without the slightest clue as to what was to come was devastating, frightening, and downright deadly.

"I'll say it again, have faith, things are going to work out."

"I know, it's just hard to be positive right now."

"I know it is. Your mother was here about an hour ago, she had to rush in to work. She wants you to know she's thinking about you and loves you very much." Her eyes lit up with wonder and a tear strolled down her right cheek. Her lips curled upwards and her hand moved to her chest, she could feel her heart pounding. So she missed her mother, that was hard to swallow, but she was thankful for her grandfather's words.

"I love her too. I miss her."

"Maybe you'll see her again one day."

"Maybe…" It wasn't too much to hope for, but right now it was probably not possible. There were so many things going on for everyone in Seattle, and her family in Florida couldn't just hop on a plane and fly to Washington. Trips like those required _planning_. She lifted her eyes to the kitchen and saw Sam standing in the doorway. Her hair was a frazzled mess, she had bags under her eyes, and her face was pale and pasty. "Grandpa, I think I need to let you go, Sam just woke up. She's a _mess_." She whispered the last part, but Sam appeared to hear her anyway. Her friend rolled her eyes and scowled at her for a minute before sitting down next to Carly.

"Okay Carly." Travis laughed and said his farewell before hanging up. Carly lowered her phone and turned to Sam, subconsciously reaching up and brushing her friend's hair with her hand. "You're up late."

"I got no sleep last night and you're surprised I'm up late?" Sam sounded a bit bitter. Carly didn't take offense, since she had every right to be in a bad mood. "So that was your grandpa?"

"Yeah, the one in Florida."

"Cool. Tell me about it while I fall asleep on your shoulder?" Carly laughed and nodded as Sam fell onto her shoulder. It was moments like these where she didn't feel so abnormal and out of sorts. "Carly, what if this isn't food poisoning?"

"What else could it be?" Sam remained silent, her eyes bore into the wall in front of her. Carly furrowed her brow and stared at her friend with question, she decided not to press the matter. She pondered if she should ask Sam's thoughts, but she didn't appear to be interested in talking about it. "I'm sure it'll pass."

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><p>Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, stick around for the next<p> 


	20. Too Much Pressure

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 20 (Too Much Pressure)<p>

A week later, Spencer was beside himself with frustration. He must have put in dozens of resumes and he was _still_ not having any luck finding a job. Even now, as he drove Socko's car through the streets and beat his thumbs on the steering wheel impatiently, his mind was clouded by uncertain thoughts. This was the last opportunity he had to use his friend's car. The house was finished, it looked very nice, and that now meant Socko wouldn't have to lend his car all the time. Unfortunately, it was the least of his worries.

Lenny stated that he had a rental boss over his head cracking down on him, so he was personally unable to keep them rent free. They had to pay their first month's rent, three hundred dollars. Spencer pulled his lips back in a scowl as his eyes tore down the buildings passing him by. Phone cards were forty bucks each for the three phones they had, the minutes had to last at least a month. This put them out one hundred and twenty bucks. Internet services were not cheap either, at least the internet came with the cable. They were using _Broadstripe_, limited basic cable services with High Speed Internet: Light. This came up to sixty dollars a month, it was very tempting for Spencer to remove the internet portion of that, bringing it down to the twenty two dollars for the basic cable.

Gas, water, and heating were included in the utilities being paid for, but electricity was not. They had to use Seattle City Light, and it ran them up to eighty dollars a month. Combined with the cable company, it was another one hundred and forty dollars out of his pocket that they had to pay. Fortunately they didn't have to worry about the telephone companies, Wal-mart worked just fine. Bus fare would come out to be forty five dollars a month for an access pass. Unfortunately, after having to purchase two weeks worth of food, which came out to be one hundred dollars, the two thousand and two hundred they started was down quite a bit in just a couple weeks of trouble. The grand total of all these costs had come out to be seven hundred and five dollars.

They only had fourteen hundred and ninety-five dollars left of the money they started out with. That would be enough to last them until they had to pay everything off _next_ month. Sure, a total of seven hundred and five dollars per month wasn't a bad _start_, but without a job, he questioned how much they'd last.

As he turned the corner, he thought on the food prices. They needed enough to last them two weeks, perhaps it was best to narrow their budget down some, if possible. Either way, one hundred was the maximum he wanted to allow, and that was for every two weeks in the month, making it two hundred for just one month. Their monthly payments would come out to be about eight hundred and five dollars as per his calculations. What this meant was, if they didn't have cash flow coming in, they would have six hundred and ninety dollars next month, if they spent no money for anything else. By the third month, _something_ would not get paid.

As he slowed to a stop for a red light, his eyebrows rose and a frown plastered his face. He'd forgotten to calculate _diapers_! But then, he didn't think he needed to worry about that. Did Medicaid cover diapers? Blake was on Medicaid. However the plan was going to change soon, considering it was no longer just Sasha and Blake. It was all four of them. Sure they couldn't all be covered, but the fact that there were more in a house, Medicaid might just use that to lessen payment. All these numbers, prices, they were spinning around his head like crazy. He was getting dizzy just thinking about it. This was harder than he thought, but he simply couldn't crack under pressure.

"I _need_ a job, damn it!" Even Sasha was out looking for work, much to her disdain. She saw how difficult it was and was scared to do it, but Spencer assured her time and time again that it would be okay. If he could find work, then she wouldn't have to. It was harder for her than it was for him, and he was still getting turned down or receiving no phone calls. This was all turning into one big mess. If things did not get better soon, he didn't know what he was going to do. "How many places do I need to look at before I get a single call?"

It didn't help that when he followed up with places, the ones that said they were hiring, stated they weren't looking anymore. On the verge of homelessness, he was afraid of everything falling apart. He had to stay strong, had to stay above ground. Carly and Sasha weren't thrilled with his refusal of his Uncle's help, but he had perfectly good reasons. At least, that's what he thought. He was beginning to question his decision, though. Surely they'd be fine, right? He muttered to himself and pressed the gas pedal when the light flicked green. Could he truly be too prideful? Was he throwing his family under the bus like Socko told him a week ago? He hoped not, he didn't want them to think he was unappreciative. They were the only ones in the family that were still _supporting_ him.

Just as he turned the corner, his phone started blaring. He turned his eyes to the cup holder where he'd set his phone and quickly grabbed it. He didn't like talking while driving, but it was a necessary evil at times. When he answered, he heard Carly's frantic voice and immediately he pulled over to the side of the road. "Spencer, come to Sam's house! You need to see this…" She'd been visiting Sam for the day, everything seemed okay.

"Is everything okay?"

"Just hurry up…" Like a bat out of hell, he slammed the gas pedal, fear ran through his body like a spreading fire. What could have happened at the Puckett's place? Nothing bad, he hoped. He sped down the streets, eventually arriving at the Puckett's, finding Carly in the yard with Sam and Mrs. Puckett. Pam had a black eye and was looking towards her home, the front of the house had been marked up with spray paint and her windows had been busted open. His heart stopped in his chest when he saw the damage from the outside, he was almost afraid to even get out of the car, but he had to make sure everyone was all right.

"What happened?" He asked as he left his car and walked up to the group. Sam looked over at Spencer and pointed towards her home.

"Carly and I were out at the smoothie shop and a couple of those loan shark thugs attacked mom and ransacked the house!" He froze, his heart filled with terror as his eyes fell upon the open door. He could see various items strewn about within the room, but the doorway only revealed so much. Whatever was inside, he was sure was worse. He was speechless, nothing he could say could make this any better. Why had the people attacked the Pucketts? What was their purpose?

"How…"

"Simple," Pam replied with a mild groan. She turned to Spencer and folded her arms over, her lips were pulled back in an angry frown. "I'm not pointing fingers, no do I want to be cruel, but the reason they came here was because of iCarly. They saw the house, saw Sam, followed her around school and found out where she lived, they came here trying to find out if we knew where Carly and her family were." His eyes widened as the woman lowered her arms and shook her head. "I have a tremendous headache…and before you ask, no I didn't tell them where you lived. Unfortunately, it seems I suffered worse for that reason."

"Ms. Puckett, I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen…"

"I know Spencer. It isn't your fault, but…" She looked to the girls and frowned. "I have to think of my family's safety. I can't allow iCarly to be done here anymore." Carly and Sam gasped and started to protest, even Spencer was shocked, but he knew the mother's word would be final. "I won't hear it girls. Sam, you know your sister is coming back from boarding school, I don't want her coming home and having to worry about these thugs finding them…besides…" She turned back to the house and rubbed her forehead. "I have to fix this place up and I don't have the money, we'll need to stay with your grandparents until that's done, and until this whole thing with those thugs blows over."

"What?" Sam hurried up to her mom and stood in front, she had a very concerned look in her eyes. Spencer bowed his head glanced over to his sister, she was about ready to cry. "Grandma and Grandpa are all the way on the other side of Seattle, so far away! I won't even be able to go to Bushwell!"

"You'll still see Freddie and Carly, but right now…it's probably safer…I don't know, I still have to think about it." Spencer read the threats sprayed along the front of the house, it was clear they knew Carly would see them, as the threats were calling them out. What if the thugs were still around? His eyes quickly darted around the yard and his throat tightened up. Sweat started to form at his forehead and run along the side of his face. He was getting paranoid, surely he was, but there was nothing to say they weren't still around. They could easily follow them!

"Your mom's right, I think…" Sam's jaw fell and Carly's eyes widened tremendously. Had she hoped he'd try to convince Pam otherwise? Right now, a situation like this, he'd rather the Puckett family get as far away as possible. "They could be here right now, it isn't safe." Carly smacked her forehead and groaned, expressing her frustration.

"Oh well _that's_ nice!"

"Carly. It isn't safe." He had to think of a plan, just in case the thugs were still hanging around. There were three cars. Pam's, Sam's car, and his. He knew Ms. Puckett would be going to work soon, and he was simply driving around randomly. He lowered his voice and closed his eyes. "If they're here, maybe we can all split up in our cars and drive off somewhere…they can't follow us all and we can throw them off our tail." It was a good idea, at least he thought so. He looked over to Pam, who seemed a bit unsure.

"It could work. I need to head in to the hospital, so…"

"You can go on your own, I go on my own, Sam and Carly…you two should drive around somewhere."

"We were thinking of the movies, Sam's treat, but…"

"Go ahead, enjoy the movie. I'll drive around for a bit before heading home." Someone had to tell Sasha the news, it may as well be him. She certainly wasn't going to be happy about it.

Two hours later, after making damn sure he wasn't being followed, he made his way home to Sasha and his son. She was on the couch, rocking Blake in her arms. The toddler was asleep, such an adorable sight. The mother was humming softly and smiling so sweetly, he didn't want to disturb such peace. Unfortunately he had to tell her, she needed to know the men were still out there. It wasn't safe to keep it from her. "Sasha."

"Hey Spencer, how was the job search today?" She lifted her eyes to him, such sweet and hopeful eyes. "Any luck?" His heart sank as he shook his head and sat down next to her.

"No. I'm afraid I have some bad news…" The words felt like thorns shooting up his throat, cutting like knives along his tongue. Her expression turned to sorrow, which only made things worse for him. "The Pucketts may be moving…for safety reasons."

"What do you mean?" He twiddled his thumbs together and stared down at his feet. Just say it, get it out and over with. He met her eyes and felt an enormous amount of tension building up in his chest.

"Mr. Clayton. His men went after them because of iCarly, they were trying to find out where we lived." Sasha's eyes widened and the color in her body began to fade. He anticipated the fear, but had no way to counter it, yet he could try his best. "Pam said she didn't give anything away, but she's still thinking of moving for her family's safety…They also can't do iCarly at Sam's place anymore."

"God, I knew…" She shook her head and Spencer's eyebrow arched. Was she still blaming herself? "I thought maybe they'd be finished with us, but I was wrong."

"The only way to get rid of a loan shark apparently, is to pay them off. They're not going to leave as alone…I know you're scared, and I wish I didn't have to be so blunt about that, but…" He looked to Blake and slowly smiled. "I'm not going to let them do anything to you guys, okay?"

"Is Carly safe? Sam and her mother too?"

"They're all okay. Ms. Puckett's probably been through worse, that woman's strong as hell. Everything's going to be okay, I promise you."

"You keep promising things, but things do not seem to be getting better…"

"They _will_. Okay? They will. Just have faith…Either way, today I put in an application down at the warehouse nearby, to name a place…also a janitor at some school. It's not so hopeless."

"Then why does it feel that way?"

"Because it's hard…and life, I guess, can't be easy. I wish it was."

"It could be." She smirked subtly and met his eyes. "If you'd take your Mom's help." He frowned and pushed his hands onto his legs.

"I know, but that would…"

"What's so bad about accepting help when it's offered?"

"Because I feel like I want to prove myself, not just to you, Blake, and Carly, but to myself as well. I can't rely on my family's money anymore. I just can't." She frowned and placed her head on his shoulder. He felt her grasp his hand with hers and looked down at her soft fingers, squeezing slightly in response.

"Spencer…you know I'll support any decision you make. I know now, you're the one I want to be with, no matter what…and I know you want to do what's best for Blake and Carly, but please…think about _all_ your alternatives. Would you rather accept your Uncle Ken and mother's help, or let us keep running in fear from these guys, and with no certain future? We can't even find jobs right now, we're facing homelessness in the coming months. What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll think of something. Soon. I promise." She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand, exhaling softly. He reached over and kissed her forehead. He was more than happy to have her support and he acknowledged her points, but still, he had so much to think about. It was not an easy decision to make.

"I know you will…"

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><p>Spencer, Spencer, Spencer, please suck up your pride! They know you can do it, but hey, if ya need help, ya need help.<p> 


	21. Old Friends

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: One of the first and possibly only chapters that won't be in either Spencer's, Sasha's, or Carly's focus.

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><p>Chapter 21 (Old Friends)<p>

Out of the airport doorways stepped an older man of almost eighty years, but in excellent shape and form. He wore long brown slacks with a corduroy sports jacket and a blue dress shirt. His brown tie was tucked neatly in the folds of his coat and tied in a Windsor knot. A grey beard and moustache framed his thin lips and rose up to his full head of white hair. His blue eyes canvassed the surroundings with grace and confidence and his tall figure commanded attention. He came carrying only a briefcase, nothing more. He was not here for long, but was indeed a man on a mission.

As he spotted the yellow cab with its driver leaning against the side, holding a sign with his name on it, his lips curled into a smile. The driver was a young Indian man with black stubble and a cigar clinging from his fleshy lips. This was not a problem for the man, he was not expecting a flashy driver to greet him as he took his first steps in Seattle. As he walked up to the man, the driver met his eyes with a hasty confusion. "You Travis Carlson?"

"Yes. I'd greatly appreciate it if you took me to the Shoreline Casino." The taxi driver lowered his card and gripped his cigar with his fingers, pulling it from his lips.

"Shoreline Casino is a bit out there, the fare won't be cheap."

"That's fine, I have the money." The driver shrugged and opened the back door for Travis. Travis shifted into the car and waited as the man entered the front and started the drive. He lifted his hands and started brushing his bangs from his face. "I have business there, that's all. Do you have the option of a window between seats? I'd like to make a personal phone call."

"Got it." The driver smacked his lips and pressed a button, causing a glass barrier to rise up from behind the front seats. Travis smiled and pulled out his cell phone, dialing his daughter. Jessica had been very concerned when he told her what he was planning to do, but he reassured her that he was an old, forgotten, retired politician, and he wasn't going to be doing anything wrong.

After a minute, Jessica answered the phone, speaking in a nervous, quickened pace. "You're there? In Seattle?"

"Yes dear, relax. As you know, I found where old Clarence was working, so I just want to talk to him. Surely he remembers me…" He wanted to pay a visit to his grandson, but he was pretty sure Spencer seeing him would be a bad idea for now. Though, he debated whether or not he truly cared. After all, he was old and Ken's son had no children yet, how many more years must he go without seeing his great grandchild before he died? Death was something that, sadly, was always on his mind. "I don't deal with loan sharks, so I'm not _paying_ anything more than a visit."

"I can't believe Spencer would let that poor woman go, look at what trouble it's caused. I'm just glad she and Blake are safe as well, but I still don't feel Spencer and all of them are really safe…I'm worried about them, Dad."

"I know you are, dear. Plus, being so far away and unable to see your grandson can't be a pleasant experience for you." He leaned back and smirked playfully, resting his arm on top of the seats. "I may just pay them a visit myself, steal a peak at my great grandson before you or Ken."

"Not fair! He's my grandson, I should get to see him first…"

"Ah technically you did." If the webcam counted, that was. She didn't get to interact, obviously. They were all shocked when Carly first brought that baby on screen, but it was such a wonderful blessing to know that Spencer had a child. Even if he went about having a kid the wrong way. "I'm impressed, you honestly didn't believe Spencer left Sasha and the baby."

"My son may be a bit irresponsible sometimes, but he's not _that_ daft. I can tell he cares about her, and I believe Spencer would do everything he can to give her, Blake, and Carly a good life. Wish I was around more…damn Robert. I swear, one of these days I'm going to personally chew him out!"

"I think your brother and I would be right behind you there. Your mother too." His wife, Ramone, was still back home taking care of her garden out back. She hadn't been as involved in everything going on as the others had, but she still wanted Spencer to be taken care of. She was grateful that Spencer told Ken about the loan shark, because in this case, Travis was actually the best suited for taking care of the situation. "It's a shame we couldn't find out where Clarence was before yesterday…or get a flight before then."

"Why? What happened yesterday?" Her voice rose with concern and Travis's expression fell flat. Did Ken seriously not tell her yet? Oh wait, he'd forgotten, Carly called _him_. He smacked his forehead and closed his eyes. "Dad…what happened? Tell me…are my children okay?"

"Yes, they're all fine. Carly called last night in tears, it seems Clarence sent his thugs to her friend's house. They ransacked the place." Jessica gasped. He heard a chair scrape against the floor, indicating her rising quickly from her kitchen chair. "Nothing so bad, except iCarly's become harder for her to do now because Samantha has to move across the city."

"Dad, would you do me a favor and punch that man for me?"

"Now dear, you know that's not how we handle our business."

"I don't care! He's scaring my children, my daughter in law, my grandson, and putting them all in danger. I wish it could be me over there right now."

"That would make things worse." The press would follow her, Robert could find out and potentially threaten some kind of harm, and virtually a number of other things could go wrong. "This is the safest way. Clarence will recognize me and hopefully I can reason with him."

"And if not?"

"Then I'm afraid I will just simply have to pay off the debt owed to him. That's a last resort, but if there's nothing else…so be it."

"Just…be careful Dad…" He smiled and ran his finger along the bottom of his chin hairs, they were soft like cloth, not at all like wires. He was often fascinated with his beard, though his wife would rather him shave it off.

"I'll be fine. I'll talk to you when I'm done here." She said her farewell and he hung up the phone. As he leaned back and gazed out the window, he wondered what he'd do for the rest of the day. His plane ride back to Florida wasn't until tomorrow afternoon, so he had a whole day to just kick back and relax.

Once inside the casino, he didn't have much difficulty figuring out where to find Clarence. He spoke with Sasha over the phone on the plane ride over, but didn't let her in on the fact that he was on his way there. Instead, he just asked her about the loan shark and how she found him, then she simply told him where in the casino he was. When she asked him why he was interested, he replied that it was only interest. He didn't want to worry her or cause Spencer any great worry.

He made his way through the halls of the noisy casino until he reached the very back rooms and one long hallway. At the end of a hallway was a red door and a muscular guard standing watch. He smiled calmly and walked up to the guard, who stared at him with a sneer. "What do you want, old man?"

"I'm here about a loan. Mr. Clayton is inside, correct?"

"Yeah. How do you know of him?"

"Old friends." The guard huffed and opened the door, calling into the room for Clarence. As Travis entered, he saw his old friend sitting at a black desk with a marble top. Clarence was bald, had a white goatee and deep brown eyes, which were gazing up at Travis. The guard closed the door behind him. "Clarence, how are you?"

"Do I know you?" Clarence asked with a quiet sneer.

"Well I suppose we haven't talked in fifty years." He stepped before the desk as the old man raised an eyebrow and slowly stood up. "Travis. Travis Carlson." Clarence's eyes lit up with surprise and his lips parted.

"_Travis_? I thought you dead, I was so sure you'd die first."

"Lovely…" Travis narrowed his eyes as Clarence chuckled nervously.

"So what brings you here? I can't imagine you're here about a loan?"

"Actually, I am. Perhaps, we can chat over a dinner? Old time's sake." He knew Clarence couldn't possibly resist the offer. Hell, the two of them had been so close, how could he resist an offer to chat up an old friend? "Sure nothing can beat Wall Street's finest, but I'm certain Seattle has some good options."

"Indeed it does, I'll show you around!"

"Certainly." It was not long before they were out at one of Seattle's finest restaurants, the II Bistro on Pike St. They were having a rack of lamb.

"So! Tell me how you're holding up, anything for the man that picked me up and dusted me off after college."

"No problem. You just needed a good push in the right direction, although, I am wondering why you're a loan shark. I can't imagine a man like you would be involved in the business."

"Honestly? I should have retired months ago. I just have this one last client that hasn't paid me back." Travis raised an eyebrow as he watched his old friend take a bite of his food. Just one last client? That was it? "She's a single mother with a baby, but recently moved in with some bum off the streets, so I've heard."

"So you've heard."

"A real tool, my employees might be having a little too much fun with this one, but for what it's worth-"

"Is the money really that important to you, Clarence?" He studied his friend while rubbing his beard. The man seemed very well off, he had to have a good chunk of money. "This isn't just one last 'hurrah' before you leave the illegal business, I hope." Clarence looked to Travis with an old respect, the same admiration he'd had so long ago. "Which again, I can't understand why you'd get involved in the business in the first place."

It wasn't hard to understand. When they were younger, Clarence had just been down out of his luck. He and Travis met in a bar, the man was about ready to give up on the world, but when Travis spoke to him, he helped the man realize that it didn't have to be so hard. He convinced his boss to give him a job on Wall Street and taught him everything he knew about the job.

"Mr. Carlson, you taught me everything that I know about money, about the trade, and I'll always be eternally grateful for that. I suppose I don't _have_ to deal with this last client, I have plenty of money, I normally don't like people thinking I let them off easy…"

"Should it matter, if they're your last client? Come to think of it…have you ever just 'let anyone off', as you say?"

"No. Not even once. I know you're disappointed to hear I'm in the business, a respectable man probably shouldn't be, but I valued myself as a businessman." Clarence rubbed his chin and traced his goatee with his fingers. Travis felt his heart sink as he shook his head with pity and sorrow. "I started out wanting to teach people how to handle money. I was old, I am old now, there aren't any places I can work anymore…but I still wanted to work with money. I couldn't work with the banks, not with them assuming that I'd die off in a few years." Travis meshed his brow and put a steady hand on the table, locking his eyes with his old friend.

"Don't you want to relax in your old age? It's not as bad as it sounds, the golden years, and it's not risky. What if one day you're caught before you can retire, someone goes to the police, you'll spend your remaining years in jail, Clarence. Now is that any way to live your life?" Clarence bowed his head and lifted his shoulders.

"It would be all over if this last client would pay things off."

"What if they _can't_, is it really worth destroying a family, Clarence?" Clarence lifted his eyes and stared at Travis for several minutes. His eyes softened and his chest expanded with a deep breath of air. Travis smiled slightly and folded his arms over, repeating a line he hadn't said to the man in years. "You know I'm right. You know better."

"Yeah. I hate when you're right, but it's a pride thing. I don't _need_ the client's money, nor do I care if she pays it off. I do just want to retire and live out my final years in luxury…I just…don't see a reason to let my pride down for this one last person."

"Well if it's not doing the right thing, then…" Travis closed his eyes and reached into his sports coat. Clarence watched as he slowly pulled a photo from the coat and set it down on the table. It was a picture that Carly's friend Sam had taken with a digital camera. Carly emailed it to him and he printed the photo out. Clarence's eyes fell onto the photo and his lips fell as he recognized the faces. It was Sasha, sitting on the couch with Blake nestled in her arms, drool on her shoulder. Carly was standing behind the two sleepers and waving at the camera. "This…this is my pride and joy, Clarence. My granddaughter, my granddaughter-in-law, and my great grandchild. I've not seen Blake yet, the baby in that young woman's arms. I hope one day I'll get that opportunity, but who knows if I ever will. I've not seen my grandson, his father, in such a long time. You see, my son-in-law is a bit of a cruel man, but that's not my point…my point is…they deserve to be happy, to be safe. They are poor right now because we're not able, or allowed, to help them. They're living on the streets, they can barely pay their own way, and we're _all_ suffering because they're suffering, Clarence." His heart clenched and his eyes started to glaze over as his old friend continued to stare at the photo, speechless, but teary-eyed. "That baby boy deserves to grow up knowing a happy family. Do you recognize anyone in that photo? Do you…"

"I…Yes…" Clarence slowly looked up and set his silverware down on the plate in front of him. "My client, that woman…she's…your granddaughter?"

"In-law. That child is my great grandson. The girl in that photo is my granddaughter. Her brother, my grandson, is doing everything in his power to take care of them. Recently, my granddaughter's best friend had to move because your 'employees' attacked them in order to find my grandson's family." Clarence moved his hand to his mouth, trembling. "So because your pride is keeping you from retiring early and just…letting this one go…my grandson is forced to suffer from fear, and so much more. If your hired men were to kill them because they can't make payments…to kill that sweet child in that picture…I can't bear to think of what my daughter would do."

"I-I understand, I'll call my men off. I never knew." Travis slowly smiled as Clarence pulled out his phone, he knew the man would see things his way. His cell phone buzzed from a text message and he pulled it from his pocket. It was from Carly. He looked up and saw Clarence frown, no one was picking up. "They're not answering."

"Strange." He clicked the text message and lifted his eyebrows in shock, Carly was saying that the men were sitting outside the house, scoping them out. Sasha wasn't home, they were likely waiting on her. "Clarence. They found my grandson's home…"

"Uh oh."

"Get up." He rose and pulled his wallet from his coat pocket. Clarence winced and rose from his seat as the waiter walked to them. Travis tore the money from his wallet and handed it to the waiter. "That should be sufficient, we're done here. Clarence, keep calling them…we're going to make a special visit and you're calling your men off in person. If _anything_ happens to my family…I don't think I could forgive you for that." Clarence froze and the color quickly fled from his body. He snapped into attention and quickly nodded his head, understanding the gravity of losing his old mentor's respect.

"I understand, I'll talk to them. They texted me the address this morning, they found out where they were of course…not far, so nothing should happen…"

"I should hope so. For your sake." Clarence would be losing a lot more than just respect if something, _anything_ went wrong. He'd be losing his freedom as well, since Travis would personally deliver him to the police. It was now or never, this ended here.

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><p>You know, that last line gives me a bit of chills. I can just imagine Travis giving him that serious look as he says "For your sake". Something tells me you don't want to mess with this guy's family. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, looks like Spencer's got a grandpa that isn't afraid to take matters into his own hands.<p> 


	22. The Arrest

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 22 (The Arrest)<p>

Sasha ran inside the home in a panic, she'd seen Mr. Clayton's men outside the house. Their car, really. She didn't have time to grab James from next door, she had to get Carly and Blake out of the house. She was returning home from her job searching and just placed an application in at Wendy's, McDonalds, and a couple other burger joints. Spencer was out as well, both of them had taken the bus together, then went separate ways to look for jobs. What this meant was, Carly and Blake were by themselves, and it was events like this that she was afraid of.

She heard the men talking and quickly scanned the living room, they hadn't trashed the house yet. The men were coming from Carly's bedroom, from the sound of it. Martin was the one talking, the slightly older man with the chin length hair, Randy was the stubbly, greasy looking man that always wore a cap that was covered in black grime. Carly's voice rang out, pleading with the two men to leave her family alone.

Adrenaline shot through Sasha as she roared through the house, trying her best to protect her young. Once she reached the bedroom, she saw Carly backed up against the far wall, with Blake looking confused and dangling in her arms. Randy was going through Carly's desk drawers as Martin had a pistol pointed directly at her. "No!" Sasha cupped her hands over her mouth and the two men looked back at her with surprised expressions. Carly's eyes widened and Blake reached out, calling for his mom.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Martin remarked with a sly grin. He spun towards her and held his hands up to the sides, chuckling sinisterly. "It's about damned time you show your face. Now, do you have the money?" She clenched her jaw and looked over to Carly, her heart was going a mile a minute, assaulting her ribcage and organs. Sweat was pouring down her body and fear scorched her. "I assume you don't have the money, but maybe we could…cut a deal." A deal? What deal could they make? Could it keep them away from hurting Carly or Blake?

"Just leave them alone, please. I'll do anything…don't hurt my son or Carly."

Randy looked over as Martin slowly licked his lips. "Well, I do appreciate a woman that begs. So, if you'd like to lie down…" A shiver of disgust ran along her spine and she quickly shook her head, she knew what he was implying, and there was no way she was going to do that. She couldn't traumatize anyone like that. Carly's eyes couldn't possibly get any larger, but somehow, they did.

"No, I won't do that." The man rolled his eyes and Randy stared at him skeptically.

"Uh, we really shouldn't do that kind of stuff anyway, Martin…"

"Shut up, Randy." Martin stepped in front of Sasha and slowly cupped his hand around her neck. She gasped and the fear inside started to spike, but she froze. She wanted to run, she wanted to fight, but she just couldn't move! She felt the hot gun press against her stomach and began shaking. "Last chance. Since you don't have the money, we're offering a deal. Take it or leave it, basically. Think about it, what would you do for your son over there?" She whimpered and moved her eyes to Carly and Blake. Carly was terrified, and Blake still looked unsure about what was happening.

"Mommy?" Blake continued reaching out, crying for his mother. "Momma!" His cries struck her heart. She wanted to reach out and hold onto him, but she feared if she moved this man would shoot her. "Momma!" She tried to speak, but fear clouded her voice and choked her. Her eyes brimmed with tears and Randy moved over to put his hand on Martin's shoulder.

"Come on Martin, not in front of the kid. You want to traumatize the baby for life?" Martin rolled his eyes and stared at Sasha. She stared right back, praying that he would hear his coworker and not do anything to her. Suddenly the front door clicked and she quickly looked over, her heart stopped in her chest. Was Spencer home? She wanted to call for him, or at least tell him to run, she didn't want anything happening to him either. Randy and Martin looked to the doorway, then at each other. Martin narrowed his eyes and released Sasha.

"Who's there!" He barked. Taking this moment of freedom, Sasha didn't hesitate to run past the two men. She practically leapt across the room, grabbing Blake in her arms and pulling him close to her chest. She stood beside Carly and looked up as Martin and Randy turned towards them. "And look who decided to get brave." He cocked his gun and aimed it towards the trio. "Big mistake."

"No, the big mistake would be shooting," someone said from behind. Martin and Randy froze and Sasha's heart leapt to her chest. The two men turned to face Clarence and Travis, their boss was the one speaking. "Put the gun down, Martin." Sasha's eyes grew large and Carly brought her hands to her mouth.

"But Mr. Clayton, she's not paying-"

"She doesn't need to pay a dime. She owes me nothing." The two men looked at each other, confused. "She's the granddaughter-in-law of an old friend, so she owes me no debt. My loan went to her as a friend to a friend, so withdraw your gun." Martin frowned and slowly pushed his gun back into his belt. Relief pooled inside Sasha and she quickly snuggled Blake closer, refusing to let him go. "You two really do act more like common street thugs…" He turned to Travis and breathed in. "What would you have me do with them?"

"I believe there's a police officer living next door," Travis replied in a quiet voice. "My family's safe Clarence, you can go, but I want these two in prison for what they've done." Martin's eyes grew large and Randy slowly clenched his fists. They looked at Clarence for help, but he merely turned his backs to them.

"I understand." They heard someone shout from the living room and Sasha quickly lifted her head, it was Spencer. Blake turned his head from his mom's breast and reached out with one arm.

"Dada!"

"They're in Carly's room!" Spencer spoke, but to who? Within seconds, Spencer and James were running into the room. James was in full uniform, which meant only one thing, he was on duty. Sasha smiled when she met Spencer's eyes. "Sasha! Blake! Carly!" Sasha and Carly ran over to him and he hugged them. Blake reached up and moved his arms around Spencer's neck. James looked at the men and raised an eyebrow as he reached for his handcuffs.

"Okay so what's going on?"

"Arrest those two," Clarence said while pointing to Martin and Randy. They bowed their heads as Clarence turned his eyes to the family, finally safe. His eyes grew heavy and sad as he looked to Travis. "I'm sorry old friend…" Travis raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you mean well, but…I'm just as guilty as those two men. I…" Clarence walked over to the two men and Travis lowered his arms carefully. Sasha saw Spencer staring at Travis, studying him. She wasn't too sure who he was, but he looked like someone that she'd seen in one of Spencer's photo albums from when he was a child. "Officer. You'll have to arrest me too, I am their boss, and I will confess to my crimes."

"So easily, Clarence?" Clarence closed his eyes and slowly nodded his head.

"I'm an old man, I don't have many years ahead of me. I've lived a life of comfort off of tearing other families apart, destroying homes, taking lives…I don't deserve to live my final years in that same comfort." He opened his eyes and met Travis's soft gaze with a small smile. "Thank you old friend, for opening my eyes today." He turned around to James and puffed his chest out proudly. "I'm ready to go officer." James slowly nodded and pulled his radio up to his lips.

"Officer James Greene requesting backup. 1512, 17th Avenue. Residential neighborhood, we have a break in and three criminals giving themselves up for arrest." Martin and Randy stared at their boss, but were at a loss for words. Clarence merely kept his head bowed, not speaking a word to anyone and keeping his gaze from Travis. All that was left to do was wait, the police would be there shortly to cart them away. He took a deep breath as James clicked the handcuffs onto Martin, the dangerous one. Thus began their lives in prison.

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><p>Well, not much to say to this chapter, but for you, you can let me know what you think<p> 


	23. Family Moment

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 23 (Family Moment)<p>

It wasn't long before the police were at the house and the three men were in handcuffs and being led away. Once they got a statement from Sasha and Spencer, the police were leaving, though James did mention he'd be back to check on how they were doing. After his shift, of course. Everyone was in the living room, Sasha and Spencer were watching Travis, who was on the couch with Carly next to him and Blake playing on his right knee. "So that's your grandpa, Spencer?" She'd never been so happy to meet a member of Spencer's family, and to think, Blake was meeting his grandfather for the first time.

"Yeah that's him." Spencer was leaning up against the wall, his arms folded flat against his chest and his lip curled into a subtle smirk. "I don't know what made him decide to come over here, but if Dad knew, then all hell would break loose." Travis lifted his head, he seemed he would dance for joy at being around his family.

"Aw Spencer, you wound me." Spencer's eyebrows rose in amusement as his grandfather bounced the laughing toddler on his knee. "I'm eighty years old, I could only hope to see my great grandson before I die." Spencer laughed and waved his hand in the air, smiling brightly.

"Come on grandpa, you're too fit to die anytime soon, I'd be surprised you don't live to be one hundred. So…you knew that guy?"

"Old friend back during my days as a stockbroker." Spencer clicked his tongue as Sasha smirked knowingly at him. Carly gave him an 'I-told-you-so' look and crossed her arms over. Travis lifted his eyes up to Spencer and smiled. "I figured I could talk Clarence out of his loan shark business."

"Honestly?" Spencer breathed in and closed his eyes, retaining his grateful smile. He put his arm around Sasha's shoulders and opened his eyes halfway. "Thank you, Grandpa…"

"Ah yes, I need to call your mother and let her know everything's okay. Plus…" He met Blake's eyes and spoke baby talk, causing the toddler to break out in laughter. He smirked at the baby and his eyes lit up. "I need to brag to your grandma about meeting you first, don't I, Blake?" Blake laughed again and Spencer slowly shook his head, chuckling softly. Sasha smiled and started walking over, hesitating only when she smelled something coming from Blake's rear. Travis clearly smelled it as well and chuckled, lifting Blake up. "I think he had an accident."

"Can I change him this time, Sasha?" Carly asked as she took her nephew in her hands, beaming with joy. "Besides, if Grandpa's about to call Mom, then you should be here to say hi!" Sasha lifted her eyebrows and smiled, eager anticipation filled her and she quickly nodded her head, agreeing with Carly.

"Sure, you know how to change a diaper, if you'd like to change him, you can. I'd _love_ to talk to your mom!" Carly took Blake and hurried to the bathroom where the diapers were. Sasha watched Travis pat his knees and stand up, flashing his toothy smile as he pulled his cell phone out. Sasha never before thought she'd feel so comfortable around Spencer's family, much less, feel like family. She imagined them to be a bit snooty, but Travis didn't act that way at all. "None of you guys think I'm a, you know, a…" She couldn't say the word, she really didn't _want_ to say it. Travis looked up from his phone and raised an eyebrow as Spencer looked over to her curiously.

"A what, dear?" Travis asked as he clicked the call button and put it on the speakerphone. Sasha bowed her head and felt embarrassed for bringing this up, being respectful of elders meant not cursing in front of them, right? She already started the thought, so she had to finish.

"Forgive me for saying this, but…a slut, or a whore." Travis smiled at her and met her eyes.

"We're not related to Robert in Tyrone in any way but marriage, dear." She laughed heartily. What a nice way to say they didn't think that about her. She stopped laughing when she heard a woman's voice over the phone. So feminine and enriching, the lady seemed calm, and yet classy at the same time.

"What's so funny over there?" The woman asked. "Dad, am I missing something?" Sasha felt butterflies in her stomach as her heart started fluttering about. She looked over to Spencer, who gently took her hand in his and winked at her.

"Yes and no. Guess where I am, Jessica."

"Where?"

"I'm with Spencer and Sasha at their house."

"Really! How are they? Is everyone all right?" Travis nodded his head and started looking around the house.

"Everyone's fine, the loan shark situation has been dealt with, and Carly is changing Blake's diaper." Sasha heard the woman take a big sigh of relief and smiled as she hurried over to Travis's side. She wanted to say something, anything, but was nervous as hell. What would this woman say to her? What did this woman _think_ of her? Maybe they didn't think she was a 'whore', but surely they couldn't think much of a woman who ran off and didn't even go back to Spencer when the baby was born. Judgmental, that was still what she was afraid of? Travis didn't seem judgmental, so maybe Jessica wasn't at all. "Well, I have Sasha next to me right now, would you like to talk to her?" She froze up and waited as Jessica sounded out her approval.

"I'd love to! Hey Sasha, how are you?" Travis put the phone in Sasha's hand and smiled at her. She lifted her eyes skyward and resisted the urge to faint on the spot. Rather, she was simply standing there looking like an idiot. "Hello?" She snapped back into reality and shook her head, responding quickly to the woman.

"S-Sorry. I'm fine…" She inhaled deeply and breathed out, mustering up all the courage she had to talk to this woman. She probably didn't even have a reason to be afraid at all! It wasn't like she was talking to _Robert_. "Just a bit nervous, that's all."

"Nervous? Don't be nervous, I'm not going to bite, sweetie." Sasha's lips curled up at the woman's humorous tone. Perhaps this would be easier than what it seemed. "I understand you're back with Spencer now."

"Yes, and I wouldn't change a thing."

"Well that's good news, I'd love to meet my grandson someday. It seems dad's beat me to that. Old man's always a step ahead of us." Travis laughed and Spencer snickered, clearly remembering age old memories. Family memories. Sasha could feel the nostalgia, it was relaxing. She watched them with a gentle, but sad smile. Why couldn't she have those memories? But she would. One day. "I'm so glad that Spencer's found someone who makes him happy. I'm also proud of you for going back to him, I'd hate to think I would have a grandson out there somewhere that I'd never see."

"Yeah, Blake deserves his dad, I just didn't think it was right for me to keep them apart." Her eyes glazed over and her heart started to swell. This woman really did have that calm, accepting voice that she hoped she would have. She wanted to meet her in person one day. "You're a very nice woman."

"Thank you dear, I think you're a good lady too. I've heard quite a bit about you, from whenever Ken or Travis talked to Spencer or Carly. I just don't understand why Spencer won't bring you all to Florida, or let us come up there and bring you back." Sasha nodded and shot Spencer a look. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm trying to find a job, mom. I want to make the money myself, not ask you for money."

"But Spencer…" She sighed and Sasha lifted her eyebrows. "I'm afraid I just can't change your mind, it's made up." Travis laughed and pat Spencer on the shoulder.

"He's stubborn, just like you Jessica."

"Oh hush, dad." Travis laughed once more. Sasha closed her eyes and chuckled lightly, looking over as Carly walked out with Blake in her arms. Carly grinned as Blake began babbling. "Is that my grandson I'm hearing?" Carly's lips pulled back into a grin and she quickly hurried over.

"Hey mom!"

"Carly!"

"I have Blake here, want to talk to him?"

"Of course." Carly turned her eyes to Blake and pointed at the phone.

"Your grandma's on the phone, Blake." Blake's eyes grew and he stared at his aunt with questioning eyes.

"Gamma?"

"Yes." Sasha walked over and put the phone in Carly's hand. Carly held the phone up and Blake gazed at it. He did know what a phone was, it was one of those things Sasha taught him already. "Say hi to Grandma, Blake."

"Gamma! Gamma's in the phone." Jessica laughed heartily and sniffed, speaking back to her grandson.

"Yes I am, little one. Oh I wish I were there right now." Blake laughed and clapped his hands.

"Gamma!"

"Spencer, couldn't you use your laptop to turn on the webcam for me?" Sasha quickly looked over, interested immediately with the idea. Spencer turned his eyes to the laptop and clicked his tongue. He was well aware that his father still had the thing bugged. He received an email once from the man after talking to Socko on the webcam, Robert wanted to know why he still had money enough to use a computer. As if the man thought he shouldn't have any money left whatsoever. Perhaps Spencer wasn't as irresponsible as Robert initially thought.

"I wish I could, but I think Dad's still got some kind of access to my computer. He might hack in or something, I don't want him to find out that I'm talking to you…"

"So _why_ keep the computer?"

"Important files…"

"Your father can hack into your computer, and you keep important files on it?"

"I _know_ mom…but I just, ah…" He ran his hand through his hair and groaned with defeat. Sasha clicked her tongue and slowly shook her head. She knew his mom was right, it was stupid for him to even keep the computer. He couldn't part with it because there were important documents on there, but it would be better to just be rid of the laptop all together. Maybe it would be beneficial to start using paper. "I do not think it would be a good idea to risk…"

"Okay…just be careful Spencer. Webcam or not, I suppose I'll see my grandson one day."

"You_ will_."

"Is your biggest problem just trying to find a job? I mean, is that what you're trying to prove, that you know how to go out and look for one? I'm sure you've proven that…all you need to do is make the money…"

"I'm handling it…and yes it's the money I'm worrying about. Please don't worry, Mom."

"I'm a mother, a grandmother, of _course_ I'm going to worry. No one can tell me _not_ to worry, because that will not happen." Sasha stifled a laugh and Carly's cheek bones rose with a wide grin. Spencer glared at the two and crossed his arms.

"Well then worry if you want to worry, but I'm _dealing_ with it. It may not seem like I'm dealing with it, but I'm dealing with it. If that means I have to get food stamps, I'll get food stamps. I just don't want people thinking I'm irresponsible with money! Let dad eat his words. He thinks I have to rely on other people's money, then no, I'm not relying on anyone else's money."

"Okay. You know we'll still help you if you want our help…"

"I know. Thanks mom, and I appreciate what Grandpa did, don't get me wrong. I just…I need to think about things." Sasha looked down at the ground as Spencer walked off to his bedroom. She felt terrible, for the first time she was seeing just how much Spencer's father had affected him. The hard thing to swallow was, he was allowing it to affect his judgment and it affected everybody because of that. She looked to Carly and Travis, then gave them a tiny smile.

"I'm going to go talk to him. It was great meeting you Ms. Carlson!"

"You too dear…" She turned around and walked off, leaving the family to talk to Jessica. Besides, it was Carly and Blake's turn with the lady. She needed to check on her man, make sure he was okay.

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><p>Ah relief.<p> 


	24. What Really Matters

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 24 (What Really Matters)<p>

Spencer sat on his bed, burying his face in his hands and groaning in frustration. He knew his mother was right, he should accept their help, but he just couldn't do it. There was too much at stake, his pride was one of those things. They also had friends here, if he accepted his family's help, it would mean moving. Sure, they deserved to see Blake, to meet Sasha. Of course they did, Sasha was a wonderful woman and they would all love her just as much as he did.

Then again, accepting help wouldn't mean moving, it would mean having them send him money. Just like his dad sent him money. He couldn't stand to make them do that. It would be a repeat of where he was before, and he _hated_ the thought of that! He was conflicted however, was he doing more harm than good? He had to think of Sasha, Blake, and Carly, not about himself. This couldn't be about himself.

"Spencer?" He looked up as Sasha walked through the door. She looked concerned for him, but he couldn't help to wonder, just why was she so concerned? Why did she not just leave him again? She loved him, maybe that was it. He was indeed a lucky man, considering she came back to him and was standing by his side through all this. "Are you okay?" She moved beside him and sat down, putting her arm around his shoulders.

"Do you think I'm being…I don't know…stupid?" He probably ought to start by making sure there wasn't a way his dad could manage to access his computer, among other things. "I mean sure I could ask Mom for money, but I don't want to end up relying on her or Uncle Ken for money. I want to rely on myself." He felt this talk was redundant, that they'd had this conversation a million times before. Sasha exhaled and lifted her shoulders.

"I think you know where I stand on that issue. I think you're spending too much time worrying about how you look to us when you should be more concerned about taking care of Blake and Carly." He turned his eyes down to his feet and tensed, realizing that he really was being an idiot. His pride was getting in the way, and he loathed it. "It isn't your fault. I understand it's because your father's affected you the way he has, that you want to make money on your own…"

"I really do. I'm more afraid that if I ask Mom or Uncle Ken for money, it'll just be asking them for money."

"So don't." He raised an eyebrow and stared at her, stunned by her words. _Don't_ ask for help? She took a deep breath and leaned back, moving her hands to her lap and folding them over each other. "Don't beg for money. If that's your concern, if you're afraid of falling into the loop where you're just using another relative for money, then don't do it. However, I wouldn't be against asking for any kind of help whatsoever. Maybe ask them to help look for a job, if they can find one for you. You can't just put them off. Maybe things will get easier now that we're not living in fear of Mr. Clayton, but then again, I'm not sure it's truly safe to say such a thing."

"Considering where we are."

"Where we are is fine for the time being. Until you can get a job, until we have enough money to live anywhere else, this will do. No matter what, I'll always stand beside you." He smiled half-heartedly, almost wondering if she was being honest with her words. She seemed to be, but what if love was truly just a fickle thing? She seemed to note the concern in his eyes, as her face fell and her hand lifted up to his cheek. He sank into her chocolate brown gaze and slowly breathed in through his nostrils. "You'd be right to question, I guess, but…I left you once before and it was a terrible mistake. Believe me when I tell you that I will not make that same mistake twice. I love you, and I'm not going anywhere this time."

His heart jumped to his throat and his body slowly began to heat up. His cheeks burned with the intensity of the sun and he slowly moved his hands to her waist, not really thinking about what he was doing. He was locked in place, stuck with her, it would seem. Those words of hers, they meant more to him than anything else in the world. Confirming her trust, confirming her love for him, sure she'd said them before since she'd been back, but he felt like their impact was stronger now than ever.

Assuming she truly meant what she'd said, maybe she would follow him to the ends of the earth. He sure didn't want to test that limit, though. He didn't want to test her. He wanted to do right by her, whatever that was. He leaned forward, carefully guiding his lips to hers. She shut her eyes and moved her arms around his neck, returning the passion, accepting him. In an act, defying the rationality of the situation they were in, throwing everything into the wind, they fell back onto the bed. It would seem, they had forgotten where they were, what they were doing. His thoughts abandoned him, all logic gone, all they could do was conform with the flames surrounding them, giving in to their passion.

Several minutes later, the couple left the room hand in hand. Both, their cheeks red with embarrassment. He would be glad to admit that he didn't feel so bad now, but he wasn't happy with what they had just done while his grandfather and little sister were still in the house. It was rude, it was ignorant, but at the same time, it felt so right.

When they entered the living room, they saw Travis bouncing Blake on his knee and Carly typing on the computer. Travis looked up at them and smiled, a knowing look gleamed in his eyes. Spencer had to turn away, feeling a great since of guilt. He wasn't sure just how to admit to their act, or if he should just ignore it altogether. "Are you feeling better, Spencer?" Travis asked with a curious, playful smirk. Carly looked up from the computer and hopped out of the chair. She put her hands to her hips and tapped her foot at her brother, which didn't make him feel much better.

"Sasha comforted me a bit, yeah." She was a true woman, she knew how to make him feel much better. He couldn't lie and say he didn't feel ecstatic, but at the same time, he just couldn't simply say how he felt. "I'm sorry for getting so upset earlier. I just-" Travis put his hand up and Spencer paused, waiting as his grandfather stopped bouncing his knee. Blake curled up in the old man's arms and closed his eyes, tired.

"You have a lot to think about, it's understandable." Travis hugged his great grandson and gazed softly at the boy. "You have a precious gift, Spencer. Something not many can have. You have the love and loyalty of a woman, who loved you so much to come back to you, bringing you your son, and to stay with you despite the rough seas. You have a caring sister who wouldn't trade you for the world, then there's that friend of yours who let you have this house. You have a family that loves you and trusts you to lead _them_, and in the end, doesn't that mean so much more than wondering about the opinions and thoughts of someone who does not appear to care at all?"

He was referring to his dad, no doubt, and perhaps he had a point. Perhaps Robert's opinions just didn't matter. Travis looked up and met his eyes. Immediately, he felt this man's wisdom reaching into him, touching him. His eyes drifted to Blake. _His_ son, the one person in the world that probably counted on him more than anyone else. So innocent, unable to do anything for himself, of course he would turn to his mother and father for guidance.

How much time did they have, again? A couple months, he thought. Their funds were drying up, the economy was hell, and no place around seemed to be hiring. His hands started to shake and sweat ran down the side of his face. He felt Sasha's hand upon his shoulder and slowly met her doting, loving eyes. With a deep, brave voice, he closed his hands and turned to his grandfather. "Grandpa, you know I don't want to ask you, Mom, or Uncle Ken for money…"

"Yes, I do understand that." Travis looked up and pat Blake's back very gently. Spencer turned his eyes to his son and gently bit his lip. Carly lowered her arms and Sasha watched him in silence. His thoughts were on all of them in this moment, and the fear was truly overwhelming. This situation was so dire, like nothing he'd ever felt before. He _had_ to do something to protect them.

"I don't want to end up mooching off of you. It's not something that I can do. Not after I did that with my dad, not after the things that happened with him. I understand that you all _offered_, and maybe…maybe just this once…I'll ask if I could borrow some money from you." Sasha's eyebrows lifted as Spencer slowly moved forward. He felt like he was about to fall to his knees, his legs were trembling worse than a leaf in a tornado.

He watched Travis's lips curl up into a smile and put his hands together at his waist. "Grandpa. For my son, for Sasha and Carly. I don't want to ask for much, but just enough…enough to last us a couple months at least. I can, and _will_ pay you back when I get a job."

"I am your grandfather, you don't have to pay me-"

"I will do it, just…just because I know it's the right thing to do. I know I don't want to mooch because I want…I want to show them that I can take care of them, but, I can't do it with nothing to start off with." He moved forward once more, lifting his hands up and revealing his palms. "I don't even want to ask, honestly, I feel like it's just…it's not how my mother would have raised me, you know?"

"No, you're right." Travis breathed out and slowly stood up. Blake moved his arms around his great grandfather's neck and remained snoozing on his chest. The elder moved one free hand in his pocket and slowly pulled a check for Spencer, much to his shock. "Your mother wouldn't want you to ask for money if you didn't _need_ it. You do need it, Spencer. No…_you_ don't need this money. Your son, your sister, your fiancé, _they_ need it."

Then it hit him, just how devastating this pride of his had been. So worried about what his father would have thought, he'd truly forgotten that he wouldn't be accepting money for himself. "Y-Yeah, they do."

"To add to that, both Jessica and Ken had offered money for you, but you turned them down. I had this check written out on my way to Seattle, but only should you get past your stubbornness and see the real picture here. You're not the only one that matters, and to yourself, you should not be the first person on your mind."

"I know…" How could one feel guiltier than they already were? He eyed the check in his grandfather's hand and tears started to well up in his eyes. He looked to Sasha, then to Carly, both of whom were stunned into silence. "I'm sorry guys, I shouldn't have been so…wrapped up in my own pride…" He moved his eyes to his grandfather's and hesitated to reach up as Travis held the check out to him. For a moment, the elder moved his hand back in and shook his head.

"To stress a point, I've made the check out to your lovely fiancé." Spencer blinked and Sasha's cheeks turned a bright cherry color. He smiled and closed his eyes as Travis handed the check to Sasha. "Now because I only have a certain amount of money in my account at a time, the rest either in the Market or in Savings, I'm afraid I'm only able to give you a limited amount of funds. However, if you spend it wisely, I believe it can last you until you can get a job."

Sasha took a look at the check and gasped, she was moved to tears. Spencer leaned over and stared at the check with wide eyes, Travis had given them four thousand dollars! It was a lot for Travis to give, Spencer knew this, the old man rarely had more than six thousand dollars in his bank account at one time. Everything else was either in his retirement funds, his life savings, and more.

Now, to someone who usually had a good supply of money, this didn't seem like a lot. However, having calculated that monthly total in his monthly expenses, this money could last at least four months. That equaled out to be _a lot _for them. He was adamant against spending this gift on _anything_ but important dues.

"G-Grandpa, four thousand?" Carly's eyes widened and for the moment, she looked ready to faint. Travis slowly nodded his head and pointed to the check.

"Buy a car and spend it carefully. Don't waste it on menial expenses. It needs to last you a good amount of time before it dries up."

"I-I don't know what to say…" He was so moved by his grandfather's gesture that he hugged the old man, though being careful not to squish Blake. Blake opened his eyes and smiled, despite becoming a human sandwich.

"Dada's happy?" Blake moved his arms to Spencer's neck and smiled as Spencer pulled him into his arms and smiled into the boy's eyes. They were so full of wonder, love, and innocence. They were an inspiration to him, and a reminder, of the last person he ever wanted to let down.

"Yes Blake, Dad's very happy right now."

"Yay!" The toddler cooed and Spencer laughed richly. He loved to see his son, his pride and joy, smiling so bright. There was probably nothing in the world that made a man happier than seeing the light in their children's eyes.

* * *

><p>Well, Travis helped them out anyway, so maybe they have some time.<p> 


	25. Life is Cruel

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 25 (Life is Cruel)<p>

Carly, Freddie, and Gibby were helping Sam to unpack the final boxes in her new bedroom, they'd already moved and bought the place before the Loan Shark issue had been dealt with, and now Pam did not have enough money on hand to simply move back to their old house. It was the city's now, as far as she was concerned.

The new bedroom seemed very nicely decorated, it had a sweet, brown crown molding and honey painted walls that meshed with a light amber carpeting. The window on the side had solid desert curtains along the top rim and hung down the sides to either be tied open or released to conceal the window. Sam's bed was already made, a full size mattress with purple covers. Of course, the four or five boxes scattered around the floor didn't take away from the aura Carly felt from the room.

Sam was sitting on the bed, folding some of her laundry. Her eyes were moving to the end table on side of the bed closest to the window, which was to her right. There was a box nestled away in the open drawer, but visible enough for Sam to see. Carly was sitting Indian-style on the floor at the foot of the bed, pulling books out of the box in front of her. Gibby and Freddie were on the left side of the bed, their backs facing the closet, both working on the boxes in front of them. Carly eyed Sam carefully, the girl was fidgeting between that end table and her clothes, so much so that it troubled her deeply. Sam met her eyes and returned a slight smile. "So Carly, your grandfather gave you guys some money to take care of yourselves with?"

"Yeah, just enough to last a few extra months so Spencer can get a job." She wanted to make sure it could last, but she also wanted to add to it. Four thousand would carry a long way, but eventually it would dry up. Her worry was it would dry up before Spencer could get a job. The four thousand _did_ bring their total money up to five thousand, four hundred and ninety five dollars. With their monthly totals estimated about eight hundred and five dollars, they had six months before their funds reached so low that quite a bit would not be paid. "So now Spencer has six months to find a job, assuming nothing else goes wrong." What could go wrong? She almost wanted to ask, but given the way things were going, the minute she asked that, _something_ was bound to screw up.

"I hope he can find one. I hear the unemployment rate is getting real bad around here. You almost can't get hired unless you know someone. Like mom is going to see about talking to her boss and letting me work part time at the hospital. She wants me to start learning work ethics while I'm going to school."

"That's cool, any idea where you're going to college after you graduate?" They had months to worry about this, but it was still good to have applications ready and whatnot. She heard Sam's nervous chuckle and raised an eyebrow as the girl shifted her nervous hand through her blond curls. Freddie glanced up and smiled as his eyes met Sam's.

"Freddie and I are going to go off to college with Melanie, just the three of us. Mrs. Benson and Mom went to the same college as their parents, and we want to follow suit." Carly lifted her eyebrows and felt her heart sinking in her chest. They wanted to continue a family tradition? Neither the Bensons or the Pucketts were from Seattle. Marissa and Pam didn't even meet in college, they met here and formed a friendship when they figured they came from the same area. The very thing that brought them to Seattle were their husbands. Mr. Puckett, now passed, had been an active duty Air Force officer and was stationed in Seattle before he was called off to war, where he lost his life. Mr. Benson had moved his family to Seattle rather sporadically, Freddie never told her how they came to the state, just that his father moved them all up here, and then left.

"You're serious? Didn't your mom go to MSU?" Midwestern State University, a very prominent college located in the town of Wichita Falls, Texas. This just wasn't fair! She started to feel a panic rising in her and fought to push it down. She wanted to be happy for them, that they would go to their moms' Alma Mater, but why did they have to go so damn far away? Did _anything_ in this world work out the way she _wanted_ it to, and why did life have to be so cruel? "Don't you know how far away from Seattle that is?"

"Yes, but Carly, it's a family tradition."

"So let your sister carry it out! You don't have to, you could stay right here, with me…"

"But then I wouldn't have Freddie, and…" It was just a boyfriend, right? She didn't want to sound conceited at all, but how was Sam to know whether Freddie would be the _one_ for her? Why go off to college for a guy that, chances were, wouldn't be the love of her life. They were still _young!_

"No offense to Freddie, but you guys are still young, how can you know if you're going to still be together that far down the road?" Freddie lifted his eyebrows and Sam started to cringe. "Then what about iCarly? How can we end it, you guys were the ones that told me _not_ to end it!" Sam started to bow her head and Carly's temperament just continued to rise, stopping only when Gibby moved over to her and put his hand to her shoulder, an attempt to calm her. She looked into his eyes and frowned, her own eyes were blocked by the tears starting to reveal themselves.

"Look Carly, you're stressed out, we know that." His voice was calm, quiet, and full of concern. "There are things in this world changing, constantly, and you should know…there's nothing you can do to control it." Her eyes drifted to the ground and her hands slowly closed. She felt like she'd _just_ gotten a part of her life back, and here it was, slipping away again. "We'll always have iCarly as something that's just been for us four, but even you should know it can't last forever."

"Mom doesn't want me doing it anymore," Sam's voice stung her ears. With a gasp she looked over to her friend, who was gazing out the window and speaking with a quiet whisper. How could Mrs. Puckett not want it done any longer? Why? Why would she want to pull Sam away from iCarly? "She's concerned with my safety, and honestly, so am I…not just with myself though…" Carly's heart was breaking, tearing into confetti.

"I don't understand. Why?"

"After Nora, _twice_, and then those loan sharks attacked mom at our last home, and then there's a number of other issues that have happened to us…even Lewbert tried to sue us for damages to that bomb that went off a few years back, but Mom talked him out of it." The world grew very silent with that news, she'd never known about this. Sure there'd been a lot of things to go wrong for them because of iCarly, and their influence led them to trouble rather often. Even Sam got in trouble with her mom when they disobeyed Spencer and Marissa to go to that wrestling match, which ended with Spencer seriously injured. So was this whole loan shark business just the straw to break the camel's back? "Mom's tried to be patient, but she says she doesn't want me doing iCarly anymore because she doesn't want anything else to happen. I didn't know how to tell you, Carly."

"Well this is a hell of a time…"

"I'm sorry. It isn't all mom, either."

"I get it, you're afraid for yourself too, so you-"

"I think I'm pregnant, Carly." Just like that, an explosion. Carly's eyes grew wide and Freddie's mouth opened, no words came out. If it was her plan to silence her, it worked. Even Gibby was shocked to hear those words. In that instant, everything just stopped. Her sporadic emotions ceased and a calm panic drew near. She watched, trembling, as Sam reached over for that box in the drawer. Sam's eyes started to grow wet as Freddie tentatively rose to his feet. "This was it, this was the last straw." In her hands, she held a pregnancy test "I've taken a dozen of these in the last few days, and they all came out positive…" Sam's breath shook and her eyes moved up to Freddie's. "I'm going to a clinic to confirm whether I am or not, and if I am…I simply can't do iCarly anymore. I worry about whether or not Nora might come back, or if something else should go wrong that could endanger an unborn baby, and then there's…all the stuff I'm going to be going through that mom talks about. You saw how I just puked up on camera the other day."

Freddie was the first to say anything, which wasn't all that surprising. However, nothing could cover the amount of shock in his voice. "Y-You're pregnant, Sam?" What would Mrs. Benson say? She may be friendly with Pam, but the woman was still rather snooty when it came to Sam and her personality. She'd rather Freddie be with someone with just a little more etiquette. She'd just have to adjust, and she probably would. "H-How?" He shook his head, the stupidity of his question was overwhelming. However, he was doing the best he could to soften the blow. "I mean I know how, it's just…"

"Mrs. Benson doesn't know yet. I'm a little worried about what she's going to say. We've only done it that one time and I thought you'd used…" Hell, birth control devices still weren't fully secure, they'd learned this in all the sex education classes throughout school. The only thing that was fully effective was abstinence, by which, temptation made it difficult to do. Sam turned her head to Carly and pressed her lips tight together. "So you see, if I _am_ truly pregnant, there's no way I can just stay away from Freddie. I…where he goes, I'm going to go." She smiled softly and kept her eyes locked with her friend's. "Sasha's really an inspiration, I mean, I admire her for going back to Spencer and staying beside him. So, that's what I'm going to do. I know iCarly is everything, it's held us all together for so long, but…we'll still have the memory, iCarly doesn't become our friendship, I think."

"Y-Yeah you're right," Carly replied. A single tear moved down her cheek, she hoped no one saw it. Even if Sam wasn't part of iCarly anymore, at least Freddie and Gibby would still be a part of it, right? "I'm just going to miss you guys when you go away to college. It'll be hard to do with a baby, won't it?" By then, Sam and Freddie would figure things out, they were smart enough.

"Yeah, but, we'll figure something out. I mean, it's going to be tough just telling Freddie's mom." She saw the tears Sam's face and felt a bit of sadness seeping further into her. Sam likely didn't want to reveal this now, it was bad enough everything that was happening, and now she has to find out she's pregnant? It was almost _too_ sudden.

Thinking only of her friend, Carly made her way over to Sam and put her arms around her. She knew what it felt like to go through hell, she knew what it felt like to need your friends. For the remainder of the year, Sam was likely going to go through living hell at school, considering how judgmental the students there were. Just thinking of all the names that Sam would be called was frightening. Sam closed her eyes and rested her head upon Carly's shoulder while Freddie continued staring at the box in his hand. Was he still trying to recover?

"What's going to happen, Carly? What's going to happen?"

"It'll be okay, Sam. I'm here for you…no matter what happens. We're sisters, right? Maybe not by blood or anything, but you get the idea…" Maybe even if and when they were separated, they still had technology. That was, assuming, her own family would ever have enough money to afford a computer. Before their grandpa gave them the money, Spencer had been considering trading that computer he had in. It was still possible to come to that conclusion. Why? Why were things changing so much? Why did life have to be so cruel?

* * *

><p>Just keeps getting worse and worse for them, it seems. I'm sure things will turn up soon.<p> 


	26. The Family Car

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 26 (The Family Car)<p>

Spencer and Sasha were at the used car lot, _Buyer's Advantage_, trying to purchase a cheap, used car. It was tiresome using the bus, and the bus likely cost more than gas would. Either or, a car would feel a lot safer. They could strike a good deal with a State Farm agent. They were here for one car in particular. When they searched the site, they'd seen a Nissan Altima, four door brown sedan with good mileage and stats. It was a 1993, however, and it was the cheapest thing they could find. It was being offered to them at nearly two thousand dollars. The person they spoke to over the phone seemed to think it was a good deal, so they hoped that was the case. There was no way they wanted to waste two thousand dollars on a mechanical hunk of junk.

Travis did say before he left, they should use the money to buy a cheap car, if they could. Spencer had already been with State Farm for years, since he _had_ owned cars in his lifetime, so he actually did get discounts from them. His agent said his monthly amount would be cheap enough, and to top it off, Jessica convinced him to have the agent send the insurance bills to her address as well, so that she could pay for his car insurance. She did not accept no for an answer, so car insurance would, thankfully, cost _him_ nothing. Until, of course, he got a job that would allow him to pay the car insurance.

The couple were standing in the middle of the car lot, several rows of cars surrounded them while in front of them stood a small round building. Sasha gripped Blake's stroller handles tightly while Spencer carefully guided his hand to her lower back. "Spencer? You remember looking up on that yahoo answers site? We live on Morgan St, right?" She was just a bit frazzled over having read about the areas of Seattle one wanted to avoid, and they lived right around the Columbia City and Rainier Avenue area that the person on Yahoo Answers said to avoid. When looking at the crime reports, it was _not_ fun. "This place, right in the heart of all that stuff…"

"It's fine, we do have a cop living next door to us." He understood why she was still a bit fearful of the area, almost every single time they got on a bus, they'd start driving by scenes of violence and vandalism. It was rather depressing, and it didn't help that she had to carry her purse with her when and if she went out. "I thought you already lived in a neighborhood like this?" Though, in all fairness, he knew she never really left the house. She was so close to agoraphobia, that it wasn't funny. Agoraphobia was the fear of leaving home, or leaving a safe place.

"That place wasn't as dangerous or violent. Crime on every single street." He could see the relief in her eyes when she eyed the cars. No more would she have to walk around these streets to reach the bus stop, no more would she have to get on a bus full of frightening people that always watched her. That was important to him, that she should feel safe. He smiled and moved his arm around her waist. She turned her head to him and smiled slightly, locking her eyes with his. He studied her wavering eyes, her body had a very mild, uneasy tremble.

"You're so on edge. Would you like a massage later?"

"That might be nice." He turned his lips upwards as she laid her head on his shoulder. As she closed her eyes, her body relaxed and leaned into him. He kissed the top of her head and looked at the building to see a woman of at least forty years, walking towards them. She had brown hair going down to her chin and sparkling brown eyes.

"Hi, are you the Shays?" Spencer nodded his head and extended his hand. He ignored the fact that she referred to Sasha with his last name, it was close enough, even though she wasn't married to him. Hell, they'd even gotten used to calling each other their _fiancé, _when in reality, he hadn't proposed to her and she hadn't said she accepted.

"Spencer Shay, this is my fiancé Sasha." The woman looked at them for a moment and turned her eyes to Blake. She shook her head for a moment and motioned for them to follow her as she turned around. Spencer glared at her for a minute and felt Sasha tense. His anger rose to his throat, but he didn't speak up, at least the woman didn't say anything about their having a child and not yet being married. Though, the look in her eyes was judgmental enough, and he _knew_ how much that bothered Sasha. "You're showing us the car, right?" He hissed out the 'S' in his statement and felt Sasha smack his chest. She could tell he was upset by the woman's reaction.

"She doesn't know, don't get upset with her…" She whispered and started walking with Blake. The woman glanced back over her shoulder and smiled at the two.

"Yes, the sedan is right this way." They followed her around the building and Spencer eyed the cars as they passed. His irritation at the woman simmered. Sasha was right, the woman didn't know the circumstances, _and_ she hadn't actually said anything about Blake. "My name is Julia, it is nice to meet you. I hope you find this car good for your family. How long have you been together?"

"A couple years now," Sasha remarked. Spencer raised an eyebrow and she shot him a quick look. Maybe she didn't want the woman to know that she'd been trying to raise a baby on her own. "We're waiting for the right time to get married or have any more kids."

"You seem like a very happy family." Julia smiled at them and Spencer relaxed. After another minute of walking, they found the car. It hardly even looked owned. It shimmered in the sunlight, was not a dull brown color, but had a brilliant shine to it. He was instantly surprised and began walking around the sedan. Looking inside, he saw beautiful brown, leather seats and a brown steering wheel that matched the chairs. How could such a good looking car be so cheap?

"The prior owner took good care of this car, didn't they?"

"Yes, but we did have to fix it up. You can't see where there had been a dent in the passenger door." Spencer and Sasha looked at the front passenger door and chuckled, there were absolutely _no_ dents. "The prior owner had a teenager that took this car on several joyrides, so they had a few accidents, nothing major. He ran into a light post, and had a couple fender benders, but as I said over the phone, we fixed this car up good as new. However, given its age, and the fact that it has been in some accidents, it is our lowest marked vehicle. I would say it's worth more than what is priced, however I can give it to you for two thousand."

Here's where the haggling came in, but he wanted to take it for a test drive first. If it ran as well as the lady informed them, then it would be great. "We're able to take a test drive?"

"Yes. Follow me inside, I'll have you sign a couple forms and then let you drive around the block." Once the dealer started walking, they followed. They appreciated the woman's honesty, as many car salespeople were not that honest when it came to their cars.

Once done filling out forms, they had the car out for a test drive. Spencer sat in the driver's seat, Sasha in the passenger, and Blake was sitting in a car seat provided by the dealership, strapped in the back. It was the same design as the one they had bought from the store, and it fit very well in the car. Spencer adjusted the rearview mirror and briskly adjusted his hair. Sasha laughed and playfully smacked his hand down. "Come on Spencer, drive."

"All right, your majesty." He smirked teasingly and reached over, kissing the corner of her lips. She blushed and closed her eyes. Satisfied, he started the drive.

The car ran well, didn't have a whole lot of used miles, so the prior owners didn't actually drive it all that much. "This car must have been a teenager's first car gift or something." It was possible, and after a couple mishaps, the parents likely returned the car as punishment. He turned out onto the street and smiled as Sasha slowly ran her fingers along the tanned dashboard. "This car really is beautiful. Can you imagine this being our first family car?" He hesitated a moment and felt a grin spreading across his face. Her words were stunning, did she even realize what she'd suggested?

"You said our first family car? Am I to take that means you see us together as a family?" Her blush deepened and she quickly pulled her hand from the dash. He looked into the rearview mirror at Blake and watched as the boy played with a toy dinosaur. It was a yellow triceratops, that evidently Blake was bestowing the gift of flight to.

He parked at a red light and let his eyes flick to the windshield wiper lever. He pulled it, letting the water jets spray the windshield, the wipers activated and swept the windshield in one clean, swift motion. The brakes were smooth, the ride was smooth, the car was an automatic, and even the air conditioner worked as well as the heater! Sasha reached over and turned on the radio, Beethoven music began pumping from the radio.

"This is great, Spencer!" He chuckled and reached over to the buttons on the space between the front seats. They were for the front and back windows, with a child safety lock for both windows and doors. He pressed down on the front windows and watched as Sasha started to hang her arm from the window. When the light turned green, he took a left turn and watched as Sasha's hair breezed through the wind. She laughed. Music to his ears.

"Are you happy?" He turned his gaze to her for a moment. She put her hand through her hair and looked at him with a bright grin. She was positively glowing, her eyes were wide and full of joy. Moments like these, he lived for.

A mental image of them taking this car on the highway, Blake and Carly in the backseat with Sasha beside him. Windows down, music playing, and everyone singing along. He wanted that, he wanted to see everyone filled with joy, filled with a happiness that knew no bounds. This car, he could have so many memories with the people he loved in this car. It wasn't impossible to imagine.

"Of course I'm happy, Spencer. If we can have a family car, if we can drive to and from work or interviews, take Carly to school, and then Blake will be starting Kindergarten in a few years…just think of how great this could be for us."

"I agree. Do you like this car?" Her input was more crucial than anyone else was. If she didn't like the car, he wouldn't get it. If she liked the car, he would go for it. He wanted this car, he didn't just want a car, he wanted _this_ car. Why? He wasn't sure, but if he could picture his family in this one, then that's exactly what he wanted.

"I do."

Then it was settled, this car would be their first car. When they returned to the dealership, Julia was waiting for them. As they exited and started pulling Blake from the car, Spencer made his way over to the dealer. "So how did you enjoy the drive, Mr. Shay?"

"We were very pleased. We want it." Sasha nodded her head and carefully placed Blake in the stroller. Julia grinned and Spencer's lip curled into a sly smile. "Now I want to discuss the price. When we first arrived, you gave us a very judgmental look when you realized we weren't married, but had a two year old son." Julia frowned and let her eyes drift down.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I was judging, but I didn't say anything about it. It is not my business whether you're married with a child or not."

"The important thing is we're together and looking for a car. I think, however, we should lower the price a little." The woman sighed and motioned for them to follow. Haggling, she likely did this many times and knew how the process was. As Spencer followed, he could feel Sasha's unwavering gaze from behind.

"I'm willing to take the price down to fifteen hundred. You're getting a great deal out of this car, though."

"Oh I know, I think it's worth a lot, however let's see if you'd settle for one thousand. My family and I are short on money and I was recently laid off." Julia turned to him and moved her eyes to Blake. Her brow furrowed and her hand rested gently upon her forehead. "We do live in a lesser part of town, and we're a bit afraid to board the bus."

"Twelve hundred…can you afford twelve hundred?" He started to respond, but Sasha quickly nudged him in the side. He chuckled nervously, meeting her glare, and decided to settle at the dealer's price. He moved his hand to the back of his head and closed his eyes, smiling cheerfully.

"I think we've hit a price." They did manage to take it down eight hundred dollars, and that right there, was yet another month of bills they could deal with. The woman smiled at him and led them into the building to fill out all the papers.

Once all the forms were filled out and the car bought, they were able to leave the dealership with their new car. Now all they had to do was get a couple license plates and new stickers for the car. All in all this was a great day, he would have to thank his grandpa later.

* * *

><p>So they have a car, this is good.<p> 


	27. A Romantic Date

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 27 (Romantic Date)<p>

This iCarly would be something of amazement, something Spencer had asked Carly and the others to do for him. He and Sasha were going on a date, by some miracle Sasha trusted James and Juanita with babysitting Blake, which showed she was growing somewhat, a very impressive feat in his eyes. Of course, Sasha did seem a little confused about his choice of location for the 'date', and also why the date was taking place during iCarly, something so crucial to his sister.

As for the date, it was at a small karaoke bar, one that Spencer managed to persuade the bartender to let it be their night. It was only forty dollars to clear out the bar, which seemed like a lot for one night, but it was worth it. Spencer parked next to the front doors and looked over to Sasha, who was eyeing the brown building with the green neon sign curiously. _Vinnie's, _the name of the bar. "Honestly, I get a date in a nice calm restaurant, even like the cheesecake factory…though we don't have the money for that…but, not to sound picky, what kind of man takes a girl to a _bar_ for a date?"

"You're not worried about drunk men hitting on you, are you?" He smirked teasingly as he clicked the gear into park. Sasha stared at him with wide eyes. Her lips parted, but no words came out. She looked down at the purple v-neck dress she was wearing and slowly traced her fingers along the lower portion. The dress flowed out just past her knees and it matched the purple heels that once belonged to her mother many years before. "Don't worry, any guy hits on you and I _promise_ we'll leave. I don't think that'll be a problem though, trust me. Also, not all bars are smoke filled, noisy environments filled with drunkards who smell of whiskey. I'd think this one's pretty clean, and the primary thing is _not_ the bar itself. However, I wouldn't mind seeing you a bit tipsy." She chuckled nervously and lifted her finger to his lips.

"I don't drink enough for that. A glass of wine with my meal, that's about as much as I care to drink." He wagged his eyebrows and held his playful smirk. He had the song _Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off_ running wild through his mind. He could just imagine her dancing on that table, drunk on tequila, and tearing off that purple dress.

"So you mean I don't get to see you drunk?"

"No."

"Damn." He felt a bit of a rise come from his imagination and quickly pushed it away. Sasha lowered her hand and looked over at the front door. He followed her gaze and saw Carly standing at the doorway. She had on a pink dress flowing down to her ankles. She wore a pearl necklace and had her hair swaying gently against her back. Freddie and Gibby were walking towards the car, both dressed in formalwear. Spencer smiled when he made eye contact with the trio, but Sasha remained stunned.

"What are they doing at a bar? Aren't they a bit young? You know…_too_ young to be at a bar?" She was forgetting that in the instance of adult supervision, children were allowed in bars as long as they stayed with their adult. They were usually given soda pop.

"Well, we _are_ the adult supervision."

"Oh god tell me they have permission from their parents to even be here…"

"You're worrying too much. Relax." He put his hand over hers and smiled reassuringly as she moved her eyes to his. "This is our night." She was so tense, he wanted to let her know that everything would be fine. After all, this entire night was planned for her, but if she was constantly worrying about things, she wouldn't enjoy the night. She inhaled slowly and closed her eyes.

"Right, sorry…it's just, you know I worry about things. You know stress pretty well when it's all you have growing up, Spencer." Their current environment certainly didn't help matters either, but he didn't want to think about all that was going on. He smiled and leaned forward, kissing her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes and exhaled once he brought his hand to her cheek. He had a pretty good feeling she wouldn't be thinking about anything bad for the rest of the night. He knew she hated bars, had every right to hate bars with the life she grew up, but he did want to let her know that they weren't _always_ such a bad place.

"I promise you, you will have the time of your life tonight. Probably the best night of your life. You think I can do that?" She smirked back at him and turned away, looking out in time to see Gibby standing beside her door. Spencer looked out his side window and gave Freddie a brisk nod. Freddie smiled and opened the door for Spencer just as Gibby opened his door. Sasha raised an eyebrow and was helped out of the car. Spencer walked around the front and met Sasha in front of the hood. Freddie and Gibby maintained their place directly behind them.

"So, when _are _you going to tell me what's going on?" He remained silent, still grinning as he interlocked his arm with hers. She raised an eyebrow and let her eyes fall to his shoulder. She brushed his shoulder with a great determination, confusing him. "Sorry, you had some lint…"

"Sasha. Breathe…"

"It's a bar, and for some reason, your little sister is at _a bar_. She's not even twenty-one, not even _eighteen!_ How long has she been here? I hope she hasn't been inside very long, I don't even want to _think_ about the patrons in there right now…"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that dear. The bar is ours tonight." She paused and met his gaze once more. Her beautiful brown eyes were so filled with trust, but concern as well. He wanted to avoid letting her mind travel back to her childhood and teenage memories, so he gently tapped Freddie's leg with his foot. Freddie gave a nod to Carly, who opened the doors of the bar.

No sooner than those doors opened, did Elvis Presley's _I Can't Help Falling in Love with You_ fill their ears. Sasha immediately relaxed, her eyes growing wide. She turned her head towards Carly and smiled as the girl motioned them inside. With a slow haste, Spencer slowly led her into the building. To his satisfaction, he heard Sasha gasp delightedly.

In front of them several feet, and right in the middle of the large square room, was a stage with a microphone stand and a DJ sitting next to it with a computer and amplifiers. To their far right was the bartender behind a small rectangular bar, he was cleaning glasses with a white rag and smiling at the couple. He was a kindred man with small tufts of brown hair framing his round, but bald head. To their left, and behind the stage, were several tables and booths for dining. The only people in sight, besides Carly, Freddie, and Gibby, were the employees of the bar.

The hostess, a nice young woman, stepped in front of them, holding two menus and smiling cheerfully. "Hi! I'm Ally, would you like a booth, table, or the bar?" Spencer turned to Sasha to let her make the decision, and to his joy, her eyes already appeared wet. She stammered for words, but eventually made out the word 'booth, please'. "Okay! Follow me."

After they were at their table, Spencer and Sasha were cuddled up in their booth and watching the cleared out area where they came in. Freddie was using his mobile computer stand while holding his camera towards Carly and Gibby. Carly's smile did not give away any hint of prior troubles, only the joy of the night.

"I'm Carly Shay, as you know, and next to me is Gibby. The reason Sam's not here is…" The sadness flashed in her eyes for a split second, then she instantly shook it off. "Sam is no longer able to do the show, for her own reasons, but…we're not here to talk about that. What we _are_ here for, is my good brother Spencer and his fiancé, Sasha! This was all planned by his great mind. Freddie, turn the camera to our happy couple!"

Sasha blushed furiously as Freddie turned the camera upon them. Spencer put his hands over hers and smiled as he guided her to lean back against his chest. "Y-You planned this, Spencer?" He leaned down and whispered in her ear, grinning as he felt her shiver in response to his voice.

"Every bit of it. All for you. Just wait, they're going to change from the computer generated singing to actual karaoke. Did you know Gibby can actually sing? It's amazing really, whenever it was that Sam and Freddie started dating, they broke up and got back together, and he sang them a song." She lifted her eyebrows and chuckled softly as Gibby started moving towards the karaoke stand.

He waited as Elvis's song came to an end, and a new song began. _I Do,_ by 98 Degrees. Sasha moved her hand to her chest and opened her mouth slightly as Gibby began singing to the song. He was doing a pretty good job. "I love this song…"

"And guess who chose the song." She quickly looked to him and her lips rose into a smile. The waiter swung by with their food, already having been cooking once the couple got there. Spencer had given them the heads up. It was a romantic dinner consisting of fresh salmon, Sasha's favorite fish, a baked potato, and rice. Sasha stared in awe at the food and looked over to Spencer's plate, he had the same thing. The salmon was covered in a tasty ginger sauce and came with a small bowl of tarter sauce on the side. "I think you said recently, you were craving salmon, right?"

"I-I guess, I wasn't expecting…wow…" She slowly looked up to him, her eyes full of admiration. "You really pulled out the stops…how much did this cost you?"'

"Only forty bucks for everything, the bartender's niece is a fan of iCarly."

"Amazing…"

As they ate dinner, Carly and her friends alternated between singing romantic karaoke songs, all songs selected by Spencer. He was expecting to go out with one final bang, though. When they finished their meal, Sasha had her head on his shoulder and he held his arm around her waist. "Have I ever told you how glad I am that you're in my life, Sasha?"

"Every day you do." She moved her head and rested her chin on his shoulder, grinning into his eyes. "And I'm glad you're in mine…I love you. More than…" Her cheeks started to burn and her eyes dropped. He lifted his hand and caressed her cheek, watching as she leaned in towards his touch. How had he ever managed to get her to bring her walls down? Not just since she'd been back, but all through her life she tried so hard to avoid emotions. He understood why, because she'd always seen her mom end up with guys who either only wanted sex or didn't even bother to stick around for longer than a day, at best. "I feel like I can trust you, Spencer. I mean, I think you're…you're a good man."

"Look at you." She lifted her eyebrows as he flashed a subtle smirk, which melted into a gentle smile. She was full of innocence, so eager to love him, but did he detect a hint of fear in her tone? He just had to remind her, he'd never leave her. "You are trying so hard not to say _something_…what is it?" Was it a desire to be with him forever? Was that it? Was it a desire to make that 'fiancé' title _official_? Hopefully? Gibby's voice sang, not as well, but close, to Frank Sinatra's hit _The Way You Look Tonight_. Sasha breathed in sharply and turned her quivering eyes to the stage. Her luscious brown hair swept her shoulders and her body entered into a state of total relaxation.

"This song…"

He closed his eyes and breathed in her sweet lilac perfume. How he longed to hold her close. "Sasha, would you like to dance?" He hardly had time to finish his question before she took his wrist and pulled him from the booth. His lips curled into a bright grin as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body up against his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gazed into her loving eyes. "You are truly beautiful…I'll always love you."

"Thank you…for tonight." He slowly nodded his head and let his eyes fall to her plump lips. His heart slammed against his chest as she quickly nipped her lower lip with her front teeth. Those lips, those delicious lips, they were begging to be kissed. He moved his gaze back to her bright, wide eyes. He just simply couldn't wait any longer. He knew what he wanted, he knew who he loved, and he knew where he stood in her world.

He pulled her closer, strengthening his embrace around her. Her eyes shut like the blinds on a window as he leaned forward, embracing her lips with a mad, but gentle passion, a longing like no other. He let her lean back slightly and felt her hair beat against his hand on her waist. Her leg slowly started to rise as the fire inside grew fierce. Her hands moved along his shoulders, stopping just at the edges. Her moan enticed him, pulled him like a siren's call. He knew they needed to stop now, but he didn't want to end it. Yet, as the song began to come to a close, he was fully aware the night had yet to end.

He slowly leaned back up and pulled his lips away, hearing her soft gasp as her eyes shot open and gazed back at him, full of hunger. "There's something I have to do." She opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't muster a single word. Her cheeks were painted red and every breath came out in rapid pants. He released her and slowly made his way to the stage, taking the microphone from Gibby. "Thank you, Gibby. I'll take it from here."

Sasha turned to face him, tangling her fingers at her waist as she made eye contact. He moved his hand through his hair and slowly breathed in as he moved the microphone towards his lips. Carly, Freddie, and Gibby arced behind Sasha as the Bartender and the staff stopped moving and watched with full smiles. Sasha couldn't tear her gaze from him to look, but he could see she was curious.

"Sasha, I want you to know, the moment you came into my life, everything changed. You came back, and everything changed again, but for the better. You make me feel more like a man, and you give me the chance to be one. You've given me the gift of being a father to Blake, given me the gift of a family, and you stand by me even though I make mistakes along the way. I don't know any woman that would do that for me." She chuckled as a joyous tear ran along her face. He gazed upon her for a moment, taking in her beauty to its fullest. "God you are beautiful, tonight and every night. I love you, I will _always_ love you, and if I'm right, you feel the same way that I do, though you'd never admit to it." A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips and Sasha's eyebrows lifted slightly. "I _know_ you are the one for me, the _only_ one for me. There could never be another." She gasped and cupped her hands over her mouth, now she was positive of what was coming. "And so, without further ado, I have one last request to end this night…"

He motioned to the DJ, who began playing the song _Marry Me,_ by Train. He shut his eyes and sang the song with great passion, he didn't need a projector to tell him the words. He knew this song by heart.

_Forever can never be long enough for me_  
><em>To feel like I've had long enough with you<em>  
><em>Forget the world now we won't let them see<em>  
><em>But there's one thing left to do<em>

_Now that the weight has lifted_  
><em>Love has surely shifted my way<em>  
><em>Marry Me<em>  
><em>Today and every day<em>  
><em>Marry Me<em>  
><em>If I ever get the nerve to say "Hello" in this cafe<em>  
><em>Say you will<em>  
><em>Mm-hmm<em>  
><em>Say you will<em>  
><em>Mm-hmm<em>

_Together can never be close enough for me_  
><em>Feel like I am close enough to you<em>  
><em>You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love you<em>  
><em>And you're beautiful<em>  
><em>Now that the wait is over<em>  
><em>And love and has finally shown her my way<em>  
><em>Marry me<em>  
><em>Today and every day<em>  
><em>Marry me<em>  
><em>If I ever get the nerve to say "Hello" in this cafe<em>  
><em>Say you will<em>  
><em>Mm-hmm<em>  
><em>Say you will<em>  
><em>Mm-hmm<em>

_Promise me_  
><em>You'll always be<em>  
><em>Happy by my side<em>  
><em>I promise to<em>  
><em>Sing to you<em>  
><em>When all the music dies<em>

_And marry me_  
><em>Today and everyday<em>  
><em>Marry me<em>  
><em>If I ever get the nerve to say "Hello" in this cafe<em>  
><em>Say you will<em>  
><em>Mm-hmm<em>  
><em>Say you will<em>  
><em>Marry me<em>  
><em>Mm-hmm<em>

When the song ended, Spencer slowly opened his eyes, sweat drenched his forehead and his chest slowly rose and fell. He met Sasha's tear-filled gaze with a smile. "Maybe I can't afford a ring right now, maybe I can't afford a ceremony yet, but I can promise you…everything." What would she say? Would she turn him down? God he hoped not, but he felt so certain that she wouldn't do that. He could never be sure. He stepped off the stage and made his way towards her, stopping within inches of her.

"S-Spencer, I-I don't know what to say." Without further word, she moved her arms around his neck and reached up, kissing his lips passionately. He was stunned, but quickly bounced back, moving his arms around her waist and meeting her kiss. He pulled her in closer, earning a muffled yelp. After a second, she pulled away and moved her head to his chest. "Yes…I will." His heart leapt to his throat, he had to fight to keep from cheering. He'd waited so long to hear those words. "Should we wait, until your family can be here?"

"We have plenty of time to plan that." He knew his mother would probably start trying to get involved and plan this wedding the minute she knew of the proposal. Which, given her track record of watching every iCarly, she would probably be calling them with a great excitement by tomorrow.

"I love you Spencer. Always and Forever."

"I love you too, more than you'll ever know." There was nothing that could bring him down, not now.

* * *

><p>Let me know what you thought, was it sweet enough for you? ^_^<p> 


	28. Bad Deal, Good Deal

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 28 (Bad Deal, Good Deal)<p>

The next morning, Carly got an urgent phone call from Freddie, telling her to meet up at the Groovy Smoothie. After convincing Spencer to let her borrow the car, she managed to arrive at the shop with no trouble. The message she'd received sounded very frantic and racy, which in turn, made her a bit frantic. She hoped it wasn't anything serious, yet the feeling of ensuing danger was unshakeable.

Upon entrance to the shop, she saw Freddie and Gibby sitting at the usual table. Freddie's face was long and hard while Gibby appeared to be trying his hand at comfort. A failed attempt from the looks of it. "What's going on?" Carly asked once she arrived next to them. They glanced up at her with pitiful smiles. Those smiles stabbed her like a hot iron, giving away the gravity of what Freddie's message could have been about. "This isn't going to be bad news, is it? Please no more bad news. I can't handle more bad news." Gibby pulled out the chair beside them and Carly slowly sat down. Freddie turned his eyes from her and stared down at his smoothie cup in front of him, he couldn't make eye contact with her.

"Mom's pissed," Freddie said plainly. Carly's eyebrows rose and her growing fear crashed in her chest. There was only one way this conversation was capable of leading. "Sam's mom is talking to her, and I think she's calming down, but after last night's iCarly…mom put her foot down, I can't do the show anymore." The world crashed and the customers around them seemed to walk very slowly as the anxiety inside her rocketed through her veins. Freddie unable to do iCarly? Marissa put a stop to it? What the hell was the woman thinking? Not to demean Marissa in any way, of course.

"What?" Freddie closed his eyes as Carly crashed her palms on the table and stood just a bit. First Sam, and now Freddie? That was it, iCarly was _over_. "What do you _mean_ your mother isn't allowing you to do the show anymore?"

"She was upset enough when we told her about Sam being pregnant, and then the whole thing at the bar...even though there wasn't anything we did wrong, she still thinks…" He paused and flicked his eyes to her for a split second, as though debating his next words. "She thinks Spencer's a bad influence."

A slap to the face would have been less painful. _Bad influence_? Spencer wasn't a bad influence, and neither was she! She swallowed her anger, but the bile still made its attempt to rise up. Freddie had to bow out because his mother thought Spencer was responsible for the things that were happening? Was that it? "Why? Because Sam's pregnant and Spencer rented out a bar for the night? You can just tell her that Spencer is a god person and she doesn't have any business even bothering with him."

"I know, I tried to talk to her, but she was adamant about me quitting iCarly. It was either I quit iCarly, or she wouldn't help me with Sam and her child." Another hard blow to the gut. Carly put her hand to her stomach and groaned as her head fell to the table. Of course he would choose Sam, she wouldn't ask him to choose iCarly over that. They knew how important Marissa's help with that baby would be, she was the one with the money in this relationship. "I'm sorry Carly, I hate that it's come to this too, but there's nothing I can do…" She heard his phone buzz, that cruel buzzing noise, alerting him of a text message. She felt the energy shift as Freddie rose from his seat. "That's Sam, she says her mom and my mother want to see me, I have to go. We'll talk about this later, Carly?"

"Whatever…" She brushed her hand through the air and felt the painful stinging of tears in her eyes. After a minute, Gibby put his gentle hand to her back, trying to massage some comfort in. Her shoulders rose with a hiccup and she managed to pull her head up. "Why? Why is all this happening? Ever since Dad dropkicked us, everything's been going _wrong_."

"I know. It's difficult Carly, but you have to hang in there. Things will get better."

"They only seem to be getting _worse!_" Her voice snapped out at Gibby, jarring him. She didn't mean to snap at him, but she couldn't help being worn out by all that was happening. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be cruel or anything, I just…I wish things would work out for once!" She folded her arms on the table and rested her forehead upon then. She was strongly considering telling Spencer to just pack up and move to Florida. At least there, they could be happy, right? "It would be better if Spencer moved us all to Florida and we could have mom, Grandpa, Uncle Ken…we could all be happy. Here, we don't have money, Spencer's unable to find a job, and I am losing my best friends!"

"You haven't lost them. Life is treating them just as shitty as it's treating you. Keep that in mind." He lowered his voice and spoke with a softness that soothed her angry heart. She smiled softly and moved her eyes up to his. "I know you're scared, and you have every reason to be. Ms. Benson will come around, granted she's never going to let Freddie do iCarly now, but she's not forbidding him from hanging out with you. Nor is Ms. Puckett forbidding Sam from spending time with you. In the very least, isn't that what is important? To know that no matter what, you still have your friends. Say you were to move to Florida, even if you didn't and they went to college in Texas, you're still able to chat with them online, on the phone, wherever you are."

"I guess…" He was right, iCarly could end, but their friendship would never end. It was more stressful trying to keep the show alive than it was to just simply let it end. She didn't want to end it though, she wanted to keep it on. "You know, if we had some money…we could probably manage to buy a good ring for Spencer and Sasha."

"What about the money your grandpa gave you?"

"Well we already got the car, for one thing, but that money is off limits to anything that isn't bills. You know how much a ring could cost?" At least one thousand dollars, and that was not money that they wanted to pull out of the money Travis gave to them. "It sucks how we're so _low_ on money. I don't want to sound selfish, but I think I liked it better when Spencer was taking Dad's money."

"Yeah, but you realize he was wrong to do that, right?" She nodded and moved her forearms up to hold the sides of her head. She agreed Spencer shouldn't have left college to begin with, he shouldn't have lied to their dad. Maybe it was for the best, considering how much of an asshole the man really was. "I know you're scared, but Carly, things really have an odd way of working out, and they will. You won't be in poverty forever, I don't think your mom will let you."

"If she even tries to come here, Dad will find out. If that happens, I don't know what he'd do to her, or to us…" So what would happen if they went to her? He couldn't do anything then, could he?

"Why does he even care? Would he care now? I mean, he pretty much disowned you two."

"He cares because, from what Uncle Ken told Spencer, and Spencer told me, mom wanted custody of us. He wasn't going to let her 'win', he wasn't going to let that happen, and he did whatever it took to make sure he got custody. He's an abusive, control freak, and even now, he probably wouldn't let Mom try and take us in."

"So let's set the record straight, then?" She stared at him, confused by his statement. Set the record straight? What the hell did that mean? He breathed in and pushed his hands along the table. His lip curved into a smirk and his eyes grew devious. "This was all before your mom and Uncle were strong in politics, right? If your dad fought dirty, why couldn't they do that _now_?"

"Mom and her family don't believe in dirty politics." Though, for all she knew, that could very well be changing. After all, it seemed more now than ever, her mom was willing to throw down with their dad. She and Uncle Ken, along with Travis, could easily ruin Mr. Shay if given the chance, and the right lawyer. Maybe that wasn't their plan, maybe they just wanted Spencer to bring his family to them where they could all be happy. She leaned back in her chair and slowly rubbed her temples, breathing out her exasperation. "I need to think, Gibby. So, can I just be alone for a bit?"

"Yeah, but if you want to talk, you know my number."

"Thanks." She waited for him to leave, then opened her eyes to the front counter. T-Bo was watching her, a frown painted on his face. He was wiping down the front counter, stopping only when customers started walking up to him. She often wondered how difficult it was for him, he had so few employees. Hell, she never saw anyone but T-Bo working, really. Sometimes people came in to work the register, but most days it was just him.

"So, I hear you're having money issues." The familiar voice burned her eardrums. She quickly turned to see Nevel standing behind her, his hands behind his back. Beside him were his two thugs that she remembered from when he sold her webshow back for the cost of a kiss. Alfonso and Raul. What did they want? "I saw last night's iCarly, and it moved me to tears Shay…"

"Really now?"

"Yes, and I'm preparing to pay good money to help your brother buy that woman a ring." Nevel put his hand to his chest and breathed in deeply, feigning an emotional sigh. Was she to believe he'd give her any money? Then again, Nevel's family _did_ have a lot of money. Nothing quite like her family, but close enough. After all, he was a boy genius.

"What's the catch?"

"Catch? Why there's no catch…but I would have to buy something." She froze under his cold smirk, she knew exactly what this was! An attempt to buy iCarly, or at least that's what it sounded like. "I can give you a couple grand, if you'll let me buy your webshow."

"You would buy a dying webshow?" She scoffed and turned back around in her chair, brushing him off with a hand. "Freddie and Sam can't even do iCarly anymore. It's dead, kaput-"

"And you would sooner let iCarly rot and be forgotten than to let it live on, even if it _is_ in the hands of someone you don't care for?" She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. The memory of iCarly, the thought of it living on, it meant everything to her. Maybe, just maybe, if he treated it like his own webshow, which he actually _did_ do a good job of hosting, then it could live on. "I could make sure the memory of iCarly lives on, and I am a man of my words, Carly Shay."

"Why do you care? You _ruined_ us!" She turned back around and rose from her seat as Nevel pulled a familiar URL transfer document from his sweater vest. She took a shaky breath of air and eyed that paper with growing anxiety. This was all his fault. Everything was _his_ fault. "Why would you even bother?"

"I am not as horrible as you might think, and your little group _did_ teach me to be compassionate…if you remember?" That was correct, when he'd done something so terrible, they tried to help him up. When he was in the gutters, they fixed the problem. "Consider this a reprieve, a consolation, I'm helping you, not hindering you."

"You won't tarnish the site?"

"No Carly, I will not. I will hire someone to keep up the shenanigans and will be their manager. You have my word, I will keep iCarly the way it always has been." He handed the document over and she carefully took it in her hands. As she eyed the document, she couldn't help but to think she wasn't in the right frame of mind. "I'll give you five grand for it."

"Five thousand?" That was a lot, and it would at least add to the bank. She couldn't help but to have a sense of déjà vu, though not for herself. Sasha came to her mind, but she instantly brushed away the thought. "O-Okay, I'll sign it over…"

"Great." He smiled as she leaned over the table and started to sign her signature on the line. "You have my word Carly, I will take care of your precious webshow." She closed her eyes, her body was trembling, it was as if she were signing her whole life away. When she opened her eyes, she saw five thousand dollars in cash sitting in front of her, all Benjamin's. Nevel took the document from her and stuffed it away in his vest. "Very good then. Have fun with the money, it's been a pleasure doing business with you. Keep the money as long as iCarly is still successful…" His last sentence was uttered in a whisper. Carly lifted her head sharply and looked back as Nevel and his henchmen started walking away. She felt a cold wind brush against her neck and quickly turned her gaze to the money.

Closing her eyes once more, she took the money and pocketed it. What would the others say about this? On a better day, she probably wouldn't have handed iCarly to Nevel. If he _could_ make it live on, then she was at least happy for that. She looked over at the front counter and saw T-Bo handing the final customer a smoothie. Once the customer walked off, he looked at her and motioned, with a smile, for her to come over.

She hastened her step and stood before him, studying him closely. What did he want? "What's going on?"

"I wanted to talk to you sooner, but I got swamped with customers just now. I heard about what's been going on lately…how are you holding up?" A friend. He could always be counted on, at least, to make her feel better.

"I've seen better days." She chuckled softly and let her eyes fall to the register. "Spencer's still searching for a job, Sasha's having a hard time with everything, and I just…I'm worried about my future, to be honest. I was hoping to be able to go to college, but I don't know how we'll even pay for it."

"You need some help getting on your feet, that's the problem?" She moved her finger along the edge of the counter, a momentary distraction from the conversation. Her heart was slowly being torn apart by all the stress.

"Sam's pregnant, neither she or Freddie can do iCarly anymore, I just handed it over to our biggest enemy so I could have money, Dad's kicked us out, we could go homeless really quickly…I don't know what to do." She fought the urge to burst out in tears, but as she'd been doing that all day, it was becoming harder to do. Her eyes were already glazed over and she felt more like spilling her guts to T-Bo than she'd ever felt.

T-Bo rubbed his chin and nodded to her rant. "Uh huh. Well, how about this? I was looking for a new cashier. Do you know anything about running a register?" She gasped and quickly looked up to him, her mouth open like a fish and her eyes as wide as the moon. Was he offering her a _job_? "At least until you guys get on your feet, maybe you could run the register for me?" She knew it was a minimum wage job, maybe just a bit more. She wasn't sure where minimum wage was, but she knew T-Bo paid his employees eight dollars an hour. It wasn't much, but it was _work_.

"Y-You're offering me a job?"

"Yes. If you can't work the register, I can teach you. It isn't hard to learn. I'd also have you cleaning up the floor for me, and occasionally hand out those bagels and donuts." So in a sense, she'd be learning everything. However, it was still a damn good deal. At least she'd have a job to bring in to the family for. Seems like this was the way the economy worked, no one could get a job unless they knew someone. She knew T-Bo, and he needed someone to hire, this was not a deal she wanted to turn down.

Though with this news, she was beginning to regret the deal she just made with Nevel. Had she waited just a few minutes, T-Bo would have been here with his own offer! She closed her eyes and groaned softly, mentally beating herself over making that deal. She couldn't possibly revoke it now, Nevel would never hand it back to her. She'd just have to trust him, somehow.

"If only you'd come just a few seconds ago, T-Bo…" He frowned and gave her a look of concern. She exhaled softly and smiled at him. "But yeah, I'd love a job. When can I start?" He grabbed the white rag beside the register and started wiping it down once more, there were drops of pink and red smoothie scattered from one of the prior customer's manhandling their cup. He grinned and pat her shoulder with his free hand.

"You go home, get some rest, and be here tomorrow morning at eight. I open the doors at nine, so that gives an hour to teach you what I can. We'll work on your schedule and everything else from there."

"Okay. Thanks!" She turned around and quickly moved towards the front doors. She couldn't wait to tell the others the news! Though, first, she somehow had to tell them about Nevel.

* * *

><p>Carly gets hired by T-Bo, but ends up making a very bad choice, which doesn't seem bad at the moment, but somehow I have a feeling it's going to become a problem.<p> 


	29. Acting Like Family

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 29 (Acting Like Family)<p>

Spencer sat at the table in the den, Sasha was on the couch reading a book, and Blake was walking around on the floor, playing with a model _Blue Angels_ airplane. Spencer was currently going through his laptop, trying to remove unimportant files and save the important ones on his flash drive. He was fully intending on getting rid of the computer, as his dad still had some sort of access to the computer. "What I don't understand, Sasha, isn't hacking illegal?" Sasha lifted her eyes from the book and crossed her right leg over her left.

"It's your dad, since when does he care?" Considering he threw his own son and daughter out after their mistakes, abused his wife so much that she needed to get a divorce, then dug the knife a little deeper by bribing that judge to give _him_ custody of the kids, and a number of other maneuvers that he took to insure he still had control. God knew the man probably knew his way around keyloggers and cell phones. Maybe even kicking Spencer and Carly out, he _still_ wanted some form of control over them.

"Point taken." He logged into his email and frowned when he spotted one from his dear old father. "Speak of the devil." Sasha lifted her eyebrows and set the book in her lap. He trailed the words and felt a jab of bitterness strike him. The email was basically talking about his proposal over iCarly and saying how it figured he would try to raise up a family with absolutely nothing to his name. How on earth could he hope to support a wife if he couldn't even hold up a decent paying job? "You know, while we're on the subject of deadbeat, stick in the mud, asshole fathers. Have you ever made an attempt to contact your dad? I mean, after Blake was born, of course." She pulled her lips back and brought the book back up, turning her eyes to the pages.

"You mean the sperm donor that couldn't care less about raising a family and leaving my mom to be a stripper, right? Yeah, he never paid child support, and he wasn't about to fork any money over when I hunted him down after Blake was born. Said I was turning out to be the 'whore' that my mother was. So no, I don't expect he'd be of any use in the near future, if he even wanted anything to do with me or his grandson."

"Lovely…" Bile rose up his throat and he quickly clicked the delete button on his father's email. There was no point in responding, though his dad would probably know he read the message if he was able to get into the email. "I should just delete this email. Even if I change the password, Dad's got a keylogger or something, he can hack right in. Any anti-keylogger crap I have to buy and install for about a hundred bucks." It was a wonder if it was worth buying one of those things, or just simply trashing the computer.

"Has your dad _always_ been a control freak?"

"Pretty much. Must be that military training of his, and how he was brought up by his own father. Granddad isn't much better." At some point of time, he figured Sasha _had_ to be wondering what he was pondering, how the hell did someone as compassionate as his mother wind up with someone like his father? "Nearly thirteen years between my birth and Carly's, then three more years until mom finally got away from him. How the hell did he manage to keep her so long?"

"Abusers aren't typically _abusive_ for the first couple of years. Verbal, perhaps, then it starts building to emotional and mental, then physical abuse erupts. By that time, the woman's in such a state of shock that the man she thought she knew would actually hit her that she becomes afraid to leave. With a family like your mom has, I think it was really good for her to have them…"

"They are good people." He would never hurt Sasha, he'd never control her like his father controlled his family. He wanted to make Sasha feel like the lady she was, every single day, and he would be damn certain to do that. "Mom may have only been around for a few years, but she didn't raise a fool." He watched Sasha for a minute, her eyes were glued to that book, but her lips did curl into a smile at his words.

The front door flew open and Carly came rushing in, the expression on her face was somewhere in between excited and panicked. Sasha closed her book and set it down and Spencer moved his gaze to his sister. "Spencer, Sasha, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" _Bad_ news? He didn't need any more bad news. "Since I _think_ the bad news is going to make everyone feel on edge, I'm going to say the good news first…"

"Carly…" His voice was stern, he wanted no games, just straight out truth. "What happened?" She chuckled nervously and started to reach into her pockets. He could see her knuckles moving around inside the pockets, closing around _something_. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"First off, T-Bo offered me a job at the Groovy Smoothie. So, I get to work there for eight bucks an hour!" Sasha grinned and his concerned expression quickly turned to pride. His sister's first job? How could he be anything _but_ proud of her? She cheered and hopped once while Sasha moved over to her and hugged her.

"I'm proud of you, Carly!"

"I guess you really have to know someone to get hired." Spencer chuckled at that and leaned back in his chair, moving his hands behind his head. Maybe he ought to take into consideration the fact that he was a politician's son. Though, with her being in Florida, it probably meant nothing to business people in Seattle.

"When do you start?"

"Tomorrow." He nodded at her and slowly made his way from the chair. Carly took a moment and slicked her tongue, considering her next words. "Now, assuming you guys take this as well as Sam and Freddie did…which wasn't all that well, but they're okay…" A single crease formed along his brow as his lips pulled back into a frown.

"What?"

"Well, Freddie's mom banned him from doing iCarly anymore, so iCarly's over. It's done." He closed his eyes and felt his heart sink. It was difficult, but he saw it coming. Sasha hugged Carly again, hoping to console her. "That's not the worst part, though. It gets better." She chuckled, her voice full of sarcasm. "I was going on and on to Gibby about how I wished we had enough money for you to buy a ring for Sasha, and when he left, _Nevel_ arrived."

_Nevel_? That kid in the same sentence hardly _ever_ came with anything good following it. Sasha rose up and frowned while Spencer remained almost perfectly stunned. "Papperman? What the hell did he want? Also, money for a ring? Carly, what did you do…" Even Sasha was starting to fidget, clearly recalling vivid memories of dealing with that Mr. Clayton.

"Carly, you didn't borrow any money, did you? Please tell me you didn't…" Then, to their worst fear, Carly pulled out the money. Sasha's face turned sheet white and Spencer felt a rush of panic and anger.

"You borrowed money from _Nevel?_ Carly, you _have_ to take that money back to him!" Carly winced and lowered her hand, clutching the bills tightly. "How _much_ did you get?"

"Well, I had to separate it because it wouldn't all fit in one pocket. There's a total of five thousand…" Sasha's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she quickly sat back on the couch. Spencer rubbed his forehead and groaned. They _just_ got done with one loan shark, and Nevel had the signs of a loan shark in the making! "I didn't _borrow_ it, though. He…bought…iCarly."

"You sold your webshow…to the worst…possible person?"

"It was a dying show, and I knew we needed money!" Blood money, that's what it amounted to. It couldn't have been her fault, though. Everyone had been going through loads of stress lately, so it was easy to make a mistake. "I can't return it, you know he won't give the url back, and he probably won't take the money either." Great, this was _not_ good. He didn't want to touch that money, even if they needed it, that was blood money.

Sasha rubbed her neck and tapped her other hand on her leg. Her eyebrows moved inwards and she eyed the money. "Carly, this screams set up. Assuming we don't even spend that money, what if Nevel screws up iCarly so bad and demands that money back, but with interest? From what I hear about the underage prick, he's got a nose for mischief." Spencer moved next to her and took a seat. He turned his gaze to Blake, who was still playing with his plane as though nothing was happening.

"That's basically it," he remarked. "Making a deal with Nevel is like making a deal with the devil. Though, there's probably no reason to be afraid of him, he's just a kid, not as powerful as Mr. Clayton was." Carly grimaced once more and bit down on the corner of her lip. He shot her a look of suspicion and concern, how worse could this get? "Is there something else, Carly?"

"Yeah, he had Raul and Alfonso there with him. I wasn't thinking clear enough to realize it, but whenever those two are with him, there's always _something_ up." Sasha was confused. Spencer smacked his forehead and slowly shook his head.

"Nevel's two thugs, they do everything for him…they paid us a visit not long after Carly tricked Nevel before." Sasha moaned and leaned her head back on the couch.

Back when they'd lost iCarly to Nevel once before, he demanded a kiss in return for the URL. Carly decided to trick him by telling him she'd give in to that, got him to sign the return slip, and just before they were supposed to kiss, Spencer and the others fished her out of the way. That night, Nevel's thugs broke into the house and started to ransack the place, giving the clear message that Nevel didn't like being tampered with. Back then, Spencer had thought of calling the police, but because Nevel was just a kid, practically, he decided not to press any charges.

"Sis, we _just_ got out of trouble." He put his hands to his knees and pushed himself up. "I want nothing to do with that money you got from him. Split it with Sam and Freddie, I'm sure they can use it."

"Yeah…" She bowed her head and pushed the money back into her pockets. Spencer didn't mean to make her feel bad, and hoped she wasn't hurt by his decision. He moved over to her and set his hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes with compassion.

"I know it's hard, and we're all going through a lot of stress right now. I'd say Blake's the calmest one of us all." They looked to Blake and smiled as he made engine sound effects and laughed while waving the plane through the air. Such innocence, so little fear. How joyous it must be to be a child with no concept of the sins of man. "Anyway, I'm not mad at you Carly, I don't want you to think I am."

"I know…" She moved her eyes down to the ground. Sasha walked over to them and rubbed Carly's back while Spencer continued on.

"We all make mistakes, and once they happen, there's nothing to do to erase it. We just have to keep moving forward. Let's hope Nevel doesn't end up wanting that money back, let's hope I can actually find a job, and we'll go from there. We're still a family, no matter what happens. We're going to stick together. Maybe it's time we start acting like a real family."

"Huh?" She lifted her head and Sasha smiled at him. What could he possibly be thinking? Well, he did have his ideas. There were plenty of things they could do as a family, plenty of things that didn't require money.

"You know, maybe we'll take that car out on a road trip one day. Hell, there's a number of things to do, for instance…how about I make some dinner and we'll sit down at the table together and eat like a family. No more of this constant worrying, let's just focus on the here and now, being together."

"I think that sounds great," Sasha replied. Carly's lips curved up and she quickly agreed. Sasha stepped close to him and smirked subtly. "One thing though, you are _not_ cooking without me watching." He laughed and folded his arms across his chest.

"You don't think I can cook?" She smirked playfully and leaned upwards, kissing his lips with a chaste peck. She lowered her voice to a whisper and wagged her eyebrows.

"I know about the fires and the burnt meals. So…I _know_ you can't." He smirked in response and eyed her lush lips with longing. Why was it whenever she started talking like that, or used that phrase, it turned him on so damned much? He raised an eyebrow and curled his lip into a smirk.

"I love a good challenge. What do you say we bet on that?"

Carly rolled her eyes and shook her head, there was no sense in interrupting them now. With that, she moved over to the couch and watched as Blake hurried over to her. With a smile, she helped him onto the couch and watched as he curled up beside her. He showed off his toy plane by holding it up for her to see. "Look, it's a Blue Angel, from plane shows."

"It is! I'm jealous, I'd love to have one of those." Blake grinned widely and hugged his aunt's waist, closing his eyes and breathing gently.

"Wuv you, Auntie Carly."

"I love you too." She wrapped an arm around him and smiled with pride as she watched Spencer and Sasha race into the kitchen, both prepared to out cook the other. Maybe Spencer was right, maybe now _was_ the time to start acting like a real family.

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><p>Next chapter up soon<p> 


	30. Budget Tightens

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 30 (Budget Tightens)<p>

They'd tried to figure out the budget some time before bed last night, and without the money Carly got from Nevel, they had four thousand and one hundred dollars in the bank. With the money, Carly had discussed with Sam, Freddie, and Gibby what should be done. They decided to split it four ways, so that came out to be twelve-fifty for each person, and Carly made the decision to put her share in her own personalized savings account that she had set up with Chase Bank. It was a free account, since she was a student, and the money would not be touched. It was money that could possibly be saved up for when she had a life of her own.

Now they formerly included bus prices in their monthly costs, but since they had a car, they could drop the bus cost. Gas was Four dollars and thirteen cents at the local Shell gas station. Their tank held up to fifteen gallons of gas, which came out to be a rough estimate of sixty dollars. With Spencer out looking for a job daily and dropping Carly off at school and now work, they would have to fill up every two weeks. This came out to be another rough estimate of one hundred and twenty three dollars. Subtracting the bus fare, forty five, and then adding the monthly gas, their total monthly expenses came out to be seven hundred and eighty three dollars.

Without a job, subtracting the monthly expenses, and Carly did this math in her head, she figured they had about four to five months to live without work. Next, she'd calculated how her part time job could help them in any way. Assuming T-Bo had her working on the weekends, she could get fifteen hours of work chipped away. She knew T-Bo gave a paycheck to his employees once a month, so it wasn't hard to calculate one hundred and twenty dollars for one weekend, then multiply it by four. She'd be making four hundred and eighty dollars a month. The family agreed that whatever Carly's amount totaled out to, she should keep half of it, while the other half goes into the family bank, so two hundred and forty dollars would be deposited into the account at the end of each month. This would make it appear that their monthly costs were only five hundred and forty three dollars a month.

Given that new information, Carly could determine they now had about six to seven months to make the money last. Now, she hadn't determined how much for the _petty cash_, which was basically simple things bought, like cleaners.

"Spencer, don't we still have to total up all the small purchases? Like restaurants, clothing, cleaners, and stuff like that?" She turned to Spencer, who was driving her to the Groovy Smoothie for her first day at work. She was wearing a red polo shirt and black jeans, considering she'd seen most of the employees wearing that basic outfit. "I was thinking about our whole budget thing we drew up last night and I can't help but wonder if we should account for the small cash expenses."

"There isn't much you can do to estimate that. We probably won't eat out more than a couple times during a month, and when we do, it will likely be at cheaper restaurants. Household cleaners won't be bought very often I'm sure. You can't calculate if there are any unexplained incidents."

"Like what? Unexplained how?"

"Say you get sick and you have to go into the hospital, or you have a doctor's appointment at the free clinic…" Since none of them had health insurance anymore, they were on their own as far as insurance goes. "There are unpredicted things that can happen to derail the actual budget. Those are the expenses we have to tie in at the end and beginning of the month." He parked alongside the front of the Groovy Smoothie, just as T-Bo was walking up to the front doors. Carly smiled and waved at her new boss. "Looking forward to your first job?"

"Hell yes."

"You have a good first day. I'm proud of you baby sis." She grinned and reached over, hugging him close. She couldn't wait to go through the day, she was eager to learn all T-Bo had to teach her. Once out of the car, Spencer watched her rush up to T-Bo, who was unlocking the doors. He couldn't wait to hear how her first day went. Maybe he'd pay her a visit later, but then, she likely didn't want him showing up at her work unexpected, like parents usually do. Who could blame him if he did, though?

With a chuckle, he began to drive off. At the mention of the budget, he was calculating all those totals in his head himself. He really wanted a job, and soon, but why was it none of the places he was applying to had called him? Then when he followed up, they said he wasn't the person they were looking for. If one thing was certain, he was _not_ working at a fast food restaurant. "It isn't like I didn't finish college," he muttered with a low tone. "A degree in criminal justice, and I still can't get work…" He turned his eyes to the car's gas tank and grumbled. "I wonder how many times I'd have to fill up if I drove to Florida…."

It wasn't something he was truly considering, not at the moment at least, but it was tempting to pack up their valuables and move. The tank could go four hours on a full tank before needing to be filled up. On a forty-six hour trip, sixty bucks every four hours did seem like a lot. He thought it could come up to be six hundred dollars to drive that far. Then there were motels to consider.

He mentally slapped himself and pulled out of this thought process, there was no way they could move to Florida. Not now, at least. If they did that, it would be a last resort thing. "No. I got this. I'll just pick up the pace on the job applications!" Screw the economy, he could, and would get a job soon enough. Even if he had to 'know' someone, he would find a job!

His phone started ringing, so he answered, listening as Socko started talking. "Hey Spencer man, how's it going? Got a job yet?"

"No…"

"Sucks." He rolled his eyes and turned right on the next street. He didn't want to snap off his friend's head, so he just kept calm and quiet. "So, I saw you on that last iCarly, real sweet man. When's the wedding going to be?"

They hadn't thought about when it would be, but it wouldn't be for at least a few months. They wanted to be sure Spencer's family could all make it to the wedding, and, they wanted an actual ceremony. Ceremonies cost money, so they couldn't do that until he had a job. "Not too sure man, we're going to wait until I can actually get a job. Not only that, but there's the whole planning thing."

"Yeah, you guys have some time, I guess. Anyway, I have something I need to talk to you about…can you get over to my place? Lenny's going on and on about rent." What was the problem now? He looked to his car's clock and sighed, he was only about five minutes from Socko's apartment.

"Okay, I'll be right over." Lenny was a good guy, but the real estate agents above him were asses. There was no doubt about that. He hoped they hadn't figured anything out besides what Lenny informed them, which was that Spencer and Carly had been moving in and were without a car. There was a pretty good chance they'd figure it out and raise the rent, if so, he wasn't going to be thrilled. James and Juanita were actually paying four hundred for their house. Any extra people moving in would be an additional fifty bucks. This included children. Unfortunately, there was nothing wrong with how the agents had their system, they just wanted to make money off anyone they could. Nothing illegal, just assholes.

At Socko's place, Socko was sitting on his vanilla couch and Lenny was pacing the floor. Spencer walked right in, making no attempt at small talk. "All right, what's the problem, guys?" Lenny looked over to him and Socko's lips feel into a disheartened frown. "Tell me the rent hasn't gone up." In return, sparing no blows at all, Lenny replied with a heavy heart.

"It has. My bosses discovered you had a car, a fiancé, a kid, and your little sister all living under one roof. So, it was either I raise your rent or I serve you eviction papers…and I'd rather not do the latter to you. So I have to raise the rent to whatever they want." He closed his eyes and groaned. How was he supposed to tell Sasha and Carly about this? At least Lenny had the decency _not_ to evict them. The agents would probably raise it to four hundred, since that was a base thing, they had just been nice because of the circumstances.

"I don't have the _money_ for this, Lenny!"

"Well tell that to them! I'm just the messenger…sorry…"

He rubbed his forehead and moved over to the couch. As he sat down, Socko pat his back, attempting whatever comfort he could. "I know, it isn't your fault. Thanks for letting me know, most landlords would just drop the bomb when rent was due." Lenny smiled and slowly nodded his head. He wasn't like most landlords out there, he cared about the tenants. "So what's the rent? I know the typical rent is four hundred."

"For two adults, rent is four hundred dollars. They've added into consideration that you have a car, Blake, and Carly…and they're totaling your rent at five hundred." His face turned ghost white and his heart clenched in. How the _hell_ could they raise it to _five hundred!_ Lenny flinched, overcome with worry. He took a deep breath and met Spencer's eyes. "I'm sorry, I tried to convince them not to do it."

"It's all right, just…we'll pay it. Have to rework the budget a bit, but we can do it." This was going to be hell, wasn't it? Now they would have barely five months to live if he didn't get a job, he was certain of it! Maybe that wasn't right, he didn't know for a fact yet, not until he started crunching the numbers _again_. "I-Is there anything else?"

"No…" Great. Now he could go home and break the news to Sasha, and she probably wouldn't be too happy with the news. It didn't help that their first month's rent was coming in soon. He could feel everything starting to crash around him, and there wasn't a thing to do about it

Several minutes later, he rushed into his own home, tossing his jacket on the table. Sasha and Blake were cuddled up together on the couch, he didn't want to disturb them.

He had time to figure out the budgets in both scenarios, the scenarios being whether Carly's job paid half the portion and whether she didn't pay anything. Without Carly's job and with the three hundred dollar rent bar bringing their total to seven hundred and eighty three dollars, he now had to figure the new rent. It'd had just been raised two hundred dollars, so their total monthly expenses were nine hundred and eighty three dollars. Without Carly's involvement, that gave them only three to four months before quite a bit wouldn't be paid.

Now on his way home, he had a chance to stop by the Groovy Smoothie and found T-Bo at the counter while Carly was cleaning up the girl's bathroom. It turned out he had given her Saturdays from eight in the morning to six in the evening, then Sundays he opened the doors at one in the afternoon, to six in the evening. This did total fifteen hundred, so their prior guesswork still stood for the wages of her job.

If she contributed half her wages, two hundred and forty dollars, to the monthly bill, then they had to pay seven hundred and forty three dollars from their bank. After five monthly payments they would have three hundred and eighty five dollars left in the bank. Four monthly payments, they'd have one thousand, one hundred, and twenty eight dollars.

He had five months to get a job or they were on the street. He could do this, it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Right? He heard Sasha stir awake and quickly looked over at her, disheartened. He watched her carefully sit up and stretch her arms, yawning softly. She met his eyes and smiled at him. "Hey Spencer, I thought you were looking for work?"

"I was, got a call from Socko and Lenny…" She frowned as he sat beside her. The tone in his voice gave away the upset he'd been feeling, so it wasn't hard to tell he had bad news. "Lenny's bosses raised our rent, Sasha." She gasped and her eyes slowly grew.

"How…much?"

"We have to start paying five hundred dollars a month. With half of Carly's paycheck, that leaves us with five months for me to get a job before we're pretty much on the street. I'll find a job somewhere, I will…"

"I don't doubt that. At least your grandpa helped us out, so we have that time."

"Yeah…" They would have less time if it hadn't been for Travis. What would they do if he hadn't helped them? They'd be worse off. As for the money Nevel handed over, he still didn't want to touch that. As far as he was concerned, it was going to a good cause, to help out Sam and Freddie. Aside from that, whatever was left was in Carly's savings. Should Nevel decide to be an asshole, they could at least pay that portion back.

"What are we going to tell your family?"

"The truth…Mom will probably try to convince me to go down there, but I don't want to do that unless it's absolutely necessary." Sasha pressed her lips together and leaned her head back on the couch, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"I don't see why we don't go ahead and just go down there, but I can kind of see that it wouldn't be good to do since Carly _just_ got her first job. Either way, when the time comes, you know I'm trusting you to make the right decisions for the family…" That sounded like something his mother would say to him, to make the right decisions for Sasha, Blake, and Carly. He raised an eyebrow and looked to Sasha suspiciously. She's been talking to his mom again?

"You stole that from mom, didn't you?" She smirked and moved her head up, staring at him with satisfaction.

"Yep. I thought it was a good line. So, five hundred dollars…" She exhaled and put her head to his shoulder. He moved his arm around her waist and stared at the blank television in front of them. "What time is it?"

"Nine o'clock." His eyes flicked to the clock on the end table beside him. It was closer to 9:05, but he didn't care so much.

"You want to move Blake to his crib and go back to the bedroom to try and sleep some more?"

"Yeah…"

It wasn't hard putting Blake back to bed, he really wasn't wide awake yet. He didn't seem to start waking up around noon. When they climbed into their own bed, he was on his back with his hands between his head and the pillow. Sasha was curled up under the blanket and attached to his side. Her knees were up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around him. She had her head above his heart and her eyes shut. He stared up at the ceiling and tried to drift off to sleep. He was tired enough, but his wandering thoughts just wouldn't leave him be.

Sasha's fingers curled up on his chest, tickling his skin. He felt her lips kiss his chest and looked down to see her smiling at him. His thoughts turned to her and he moved onto his side, facing her. He moved his arm around her and touched his forehead to hers. She kissed his lips and curled into a ball in his arms.

Calmness washed over him and he relaxed his tense muscles. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed in. Sasha felt so warm in his arms. He could get used to this. All worries aside, she was his, and she reminded him of that every single day.

"Sasha," he whispered to her. A gentle sigh from her lips brushed against his chest like the kiss of a butterfly.

"Yes?"

"If things get so bad…if we run the risk of losing all our money and I still haven't found a job in three months…we'll go to Florida. Or at least ask Mom for help. Okay?" She squeezed him for a second and nuzzled herself closer to him. She hummed contently and slowly nodded her head.

"Okay. I'll hold you to that."

"I know you will." He kissed her forehead and breathed out as his body started drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>A step in the right direction, Spence, but just a step. Why not now? Sure Carly's got that new job, but I'd betcha T-Bo knows someone in the ol' Sunshine State that could get her a job. Come on now, you're losing more money than you think!<p> 


	31. Explosion!

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 31 (Explosion)<p>

Two months went by and still luck had not yet shined down upon the family. Carly was happier, though, considering she was enjoying her job. It was almost Christmastime, so that was actually something that _did_ depress her. The fact of the matter was, she wanted to see her family so badly. Yet, the family was down to $2000. They should have had around $2600 after the second month's payments had come in, but just like Spencer had told them once, there were unexpected expenses that came around.

Someone had slashed all four tires on their car while Spencer was at a job interview in the neighborhood. Not only did he get turned down for the job, he had to pay a tow truck and then pay for brand new tires. All of this took them down quite a bit. When December ended, they would be down nearly _another_ grand. All of this was forming quite a headache.

"You seem distracted." T-Bo's voice rang in her head and she quickly snapped herself from her thoughts. She was standing beside T-Bo at the cash register, it was a slow day and no employees were around. She looked at him with a nervous smile and breathed in. Should she ask him for a raise? No, she couldn't do that to him. She owed him quite a bit. "What are you doing for Christmas? You've worked hard the last couple of months, you should take some time off."

"No, I need the job and I need the money." She couldn't just take time off, not when it meant she might not be getting paid. T-Bo folded his arms across his chest and hummed slightly as she moved over to the smoothie maker and started wiping it down with a cloth. "I appreciate the offer, but you know, Spencer still hasn't managed to find work and we're down out of our luck. It doesn't help that Sasha's not been feeling well lately, either."

"Trouble in paradise?" She lifted her shoulders and knelt down, gazing up at the opening of the nozzle that the blender had. She wrapped the cloth around her index finger and pushed it into the hole, sweeping it of the contents. "You work too hard Carly." She pulled her hand back and rose to her feet, forcing down an exasperated sigh.

"I can't help it. I owe you, you gave me this job, so I want to be sure I take care of things. As for Sasha, she's just been a bit nauseous lately. It's probably just the flu, there seems to be a lot of that going on these days."

"I hope she starts feeling better. Say, how are your friends holding up? I've not seen them around in some time." Sam and Freddie were caught up with their own thing these days. Sam was working at the hospital with her mom and Freddie took a job at Wal-Mart. Their jobs, and schoolwork, along with Sam's pregnancy, took up a lot of their time.

"They're all right. Just really busy…" Their friendship didn't wane at all when she sold iCarly to Nevel, but they had been a bit irritable. They were still the best of friends. "I see them at school and talk to them whenever I get the chance. Spencer's thinking it may be time for me to transfer to a school closer to where we live, though…save more on gas that way." She didn't want that to happen, but if it couldn't be avoided, she may be finishing up her last half of school in a bad community. She'd have to get used to this. "Winter break starts in two weeks, so if you need any extra help, I'm your girl." He chuckled and started walking towards the drive through window.

"You're gold, you know that right?" What was there to say? She took pride in her job. She watched as he started messing around on the computer. Someone was going through the drive through. He put on his headset and pressed the 'talk' button. "Groovy Smoothie, how can I help you?" The person spoke and he nodded his head. "Take your time." He released the button and looked over to Carly. She was already at the cups and ready for an order.

"You know T-Bo, I regret selling iCarly to Nevel. I hope the webshow's still doing well under his control." It seemed to be doing well for the first month, but she stopped checking in after a while. Things got busy, one thing led to another, and she just kept being too busy to check. "Still bothers me what he said after the deal went through. Something about the deal lasting as long as the show was successful."

"Ah, I actually checked in to his site about a week ago." She lifted her eyebrows, intrigued. He leaned back against the wall next to the drive by window and crossed his arms. "It doesn't look like it's doing well at all really. His whole site's down and the iCarly show's got some bad ratings now. I think the actors Nevel hired quit on him, can't say for sure."

"Really?" That was truly disheartening, and it left a scary taste in her mouth. What might Nevel do now? Demand his money back? "That's terrible…"

"Yeah, just one second, I think the customer's decided." T-Bo turned back to the computer and pressed the talk button. "Okay, you wanted a medium vanilla shake and _what_ was that last part?" She raised an eyebrow and quickly grabbed a medium sized cup. T-Bo motioned at her and she stopped before moving to the shake machine. It was a different machine than the smoothie one, the whole back area was complex, but easy to learn once you got the gist of it. "Okay sir, if you'll move around the front window, I'll try to accommodate you."

"What's going on?" She walked over to him, gripping the cup lightly in her hand. She was a bit concerned, it wasn't often that he had to ask a customer to come up to the front window. Maybe they were making some kind of erroneous demand that they couldn't fill.

"I think it's a joke, the customer just asked for money."

"Really? How much?" She looked to the window just as a black car drove up. The driver window bypassed them and the back window started rolling down. Much to her shock, she saw Nevel eyeing her with a subtle smirk. T-Bo's face fell and she quickly opened the window, he couldn't _possibly_ be here for a smoothie. "Nevel! What do you want?"

"Why, I just want a vanilla shake," he responded with a certain chill in his voice. She frowned and waited as he met her eyes. "Oh, and I want my money back. Your dumb website failed, my actors left about two weeks ago. I've also upped the ante here, you know how much of my time and effort went into that site? So, I want six thousand dollars given back to me for that waste of time." The color seeped from her face. His words floored her, how could he expect her to pay that amount of money? "I learned you were working now, so maybe you could start paying off your debt to me."

"Debt? You bought the site, it's your own fault it failed!" She knew this would come back to haunt her, she just _knew_ it. "You expect _me_ to pay for your own problem?"'

"No Carly Shay, I expect you to pay for selling me a faulty URL. I'm out of ideas for computer programs to create and sell to important clients, so I'm not making any extra money now. If you aren't going to pay me back, expect things to get a little rough until you do." What the hell could he do? He was hardly even eighteen yet, much less seventeen. He was just some punk kid who made a bunch of money off of creating computer programs.

"And what can a sixteen year old twerp do to me?"

"Oh me? Nothing. Maybe you forget the 'insurance' that I have?" Her eyes widened and her breathing stilled. Alfonso and Raul, they could do plenty. His words were like a knife, stabbing her chest and cutting deep. Her eyes moved past him into the empty back seat. Where were they? Were they in the front seat? "I believe your brother's out looking for a job, correct?"

"An interview…yeah…"

"Correct, and he's dropped his pretty fiancé and son off at the clinic for her appointment?" She flinched and glared at him. How did he know all this? Was he spying on them? He narrowed his eyes and smiled at her. "I'm sure you're freaked right now, aren't you?" She looked over at T-Bo, he was reaching for the phone, possibly ready to call the police.

"Yeah, Juanita and Sasha are at the clinic. How do you-"

"Spencer's interview is at Cleveland High School on 15th avenue, correct? Security guard position, fourteen bucks an hour?"

"Yes…" She studied his slow growing smirk and felt her heart strike down in fear. That high school wasn't hiring any new security guards, they'd had the same one for the past twelve years. She knew this because the high school was one of Ridgeway's rivals. With a soft gasp, she took a step back, feeling a heightened sense of fear. "That letter he got in the mail, the school didn't send it to him did they…"

"Nope. I'd say he's about to get a visit from Alfonso and Raul right about…now…Oh and in other news, have you given any thought to who slashed Spencer's tires a couple weeks ago?" With a sudden burst of rage, she flew towards the window, practically leaping out and grabbing for Nevel. T-Bo shouted out and grabbed her around the waist, trying to pull her back.

"You stay away from my family, Nevel! Stay away from us!" She screamed out her anger as Nevel quickly rolled up the window and started driving off. Once T-Bo pulled her inside, he fell back as she let her body become dead weight. She stared up at the ceiling, letting the tears run down the sides of her face. T-Bo groaned and slowly rolled away from her, rubbing his back. "What have I done, T-Bo? What have I done?"

"Relax…" He slowly stood up and helped her to her feet. She could barely move on her own, frozen with fear and guilt. "Let's take my car and head towards that school, if we can catch up to your brother, we'll let him know what's going on."

"I'm going to call our neighbor up, ask him to start going over there too…"

"Good idea. Come on."

It didn't take long to get there, though James had already beaten them by a few minutes. When they arrived, Spencer was sitting on the curb while James, another officer, and the actual school security guard were taking down a statement. She whined as she studied his face, he had a massive bruise on the left side of his face and was holding his stomach, but fortunately, he wasn't bleeding anywhere.

She ran out of the car and hurried to Spencer, hugging him. He flinched and slowly hugged her back. "Well Carly, I had a feeling that letter was too good to be true…"

"I'm sorry Spencer. It was Nevel-"

"Yeah the guys that tackled me from behind pretty much told me all that. So he wants his money back?"

"I shouldn't have even made that deal with him. I'm so sorry." James lifted his eyebrows and crossed his arms over. He clicked his pen and shook his head.

"You guys got mixed up with _another_ loan shark?" Well, with all respect, it was probably legit this way. He didn't _loan_ the money to them, they just didn't have the money to pay him back.

"I wasn't thinking when I sold him the site…and to his credit, I don't know that he can be called a loan shark. He's like a miniature little…I don't know!" She was trying hard to breathe and to calm down, but in all honesty, she did feel like that was a bit on the impossible side. "Spencer, are you okay? They didn't hurt you any worse, did they?"

"No, they managed to take all the money I had on hand though." He had about one hundred dollars on cash for any possible expenses he'd have to pay throughout the month. Usually he managed to make the cash last the entire month. "Sasha isn't going to be happy about this beating…" It was hard to care about the money in a moment like this, all she was truly concerned about was that her brother was okay. T-Bo helped Spencer to his feet and put his arm around his shoulders.

"Are you able to drive, Spencer?"

"I'll be fine, but why are you guys here?" T-Bo breathed in and helped him towards the sedan. Carly followed close behind, listening to their conversation and trying to swallow the guilt of her stupidity.

"Nevel paid us a visit at the shop. Can he legally demand a refund on the webshow?"

"I don't know, I mean…I'm in no mood to even think about that right now. I have to pick up Sasha from the clinic." Carly put her hand to Spencer's back and closed her eyes. Maybe she was going to worry way too much about this whole ordeal, but didn't she have a right to worry? Why did Nevel hate her so much? It was as if it wasn't enough that he wanted to ruin their webshow, it was like he wanted to ruin _her. _James was writing down some notes and lifted his eyes from the notepad.

"Sasha and Juanita are on her way over here already." Spencer stopped and glanced over, stunned. James pointed his pen over his shoulder and cleared his throat. "Juanita called me up, saying the appointment was over, and I told her she might want to get Sasha over here."

"Oh great, just what I need, now Sasha's going to be stressed out."

"I would think she'd already be stressed either way. Anyhow, I'm going to need a full description of the men that tackled you. Do you have anything?"

"No, they jumped me from behind and kept me from looking at them…one of them had their knee lodged right into my back." James shook his head and scribbled down Spencer's words. "They told me they were working for Nevel and wanted his money back…" Carly slowly closed her hands and turned her eyes towards the side, she could very easily identify both men. After all, she'd seen them before.

"I can identify them. Raul and Alfonso, I've seen them both. We've had a prior encounter with them too…" James lifted his eyebrows and smirked as he brought his pen to the notepad.

"Great, any description will help."

"They're both Hispanic with short dark hair, shady brown eyes…" It took her nearly five minutes to recall every bit of detail that she could. By the time she was finished Juanita was driving up in her car, with Sasha in the passenger seat and Blake sitting in a car seat in the back. While Juanita worked to get Blake from the back, Sasha ran up to Spencer.

"What happened!" She exclaimed while reaching up to the bruise on his face. He winced at the touch. She pulled her hand away and frowned. "Sorry…" He smiled softly and put his hand to hers.

"It's all right. I don't want to worry you, but it looks like Nevel wants his money back for the site…and we're down one hundred bucks." Sasha's eyes widened and for the moment, she looked positively terrified. "What about you? Did the doctor figure out why you've been feeling so sick lately?" Carly and the others glanced over as Sasha lowered her arms and sucked in a bunch of air.

"Y-Yeah, they did…"

"Is it the flu? Cold? Some other sickness?"

"No, no, and…no…" He pressed his lips together, trying to figure out what the hell the problem was. Carly looked over to Blake, who was squirming in Juanita's arms. She slowly reached for him and took him from the kind neighbor. She looked over to Sasha and saw her fingering her belt. She looked worried about something, but what? Why was she being vague? Why did the nervous expression on her face make it seem like she was about to drop some sort of bomb on everyone? "Are you sure you want to know right _now?_ I mean, with what just happened…don't you want your rest first?" He played at a smirk and put his hand to her waist, smiling into her eyes.

"I'll rest better knowing you're not dying."

"Oh I'm not dying." She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. Carly wanted to speak up and ask her to just spit it out, but it was probably best that she let Sasha take her time.

"So what is it? What did you find out?" Honestly, what _could_ the problem be? Carly furrowed her brow and looked down at Blake, who was grinning from ear to ear. Then it hit her. A baby, a sweet adorable baby, the one thing that could fill a woman with both pure joy and worry when she went to the doctor. Was Sasha _pregnant_? No, she couldn't be, right? She moved her eyes over to the couple and swallowed lightly. No, she _could_ be pregnant, very likely. The two had sex plenty of times since being back together, especially on the night of Spencer's proposal. They'd made it very clear what they were going to do when they asked Carly to take Blake out for a drive. No, it wouldn't surprise Carly at all if Sasha were pregnant, but at the same time, it filled her with so more fear than she ever had. If Sasha were pregnant and Nevel's little thugs were going after them, then that stress coupled with the stress of losing money could cause a lot of trauma to the mother's body and potentially lead to a miscarriage.

"Sasha!" Carly started, rushing her voice in hopes to catch her attention. Sasha looked back at her with a sad smile. "Just say it, if it's what I think…we need to know, because…there's a lot of stress right now, everything's kind of exploding, so if you have a bomb to drop, drop it now." Interesting analogy, but she couldn't help it, it slipped out. Sasha closed her eyes and turned back to Spencer, taking his hands in hers and carefully studying his gaze.

His breathing grew shallow and his face serious, as though he were preparing for some heavy news. "Spencer, I'm…" She took a deep breath and thinned her lips. "I'm pregnant, two months, and you're the father." His eyes grew large and everything froze. This wasn't bad news at all, this was _joyous_ news, but the problem was, it was being given in a bad time. It did appear to have the effect of an explosion going off before him. One baby was difficult enough, now all of this, and the risk of that baby being born on the _streets_? It was almost too much to handle!

"I…you…" He blinked slowly and ran his hand along his hair. His body trembled as he tried to come back to earth. He was merely stammering out his words, rambling on about nothing, but at the same time, everything. Even James and the other officers were silent, not even the birds in the air were making a sound. "Money, and Nevel…dad's an ass…everything…so much stress…nonsense…pregnant? No job…It's all…" He smacked his face and slowly stepped backwards, stumbling a bit. "I-I'm happy about this, Sasha, please don't think I'm not. I _really am_." She smiled at him as her eyes welled up with tears. "I just…I have got to _think_."

"Yeah, I understand."

"Give me a moment. Stay with Carly, Carly talk to James and the officers about what happened, I…James, I'll give you my statement later…" He took a deep breath and put his hand to his pasty skin. James slowly nodded and pat his shoulder.

"You need to catch yourself man."

"Yeah, I'm going to go for a drive. I need…this has to sink in…everything's just happening too damn…" He was starting to ramble again, so he stopped himself and looked to Sasha. After a minute of silence, he hugged her close and tenderly kissed her lips. Then, without a further word, he made his way into his car. Carly and the others watched as he drove off, she was a bit concerned about him driving in the state he was in, but she likely couldn't have done anything to stop him. He needed to recover, because whatever happened next, was in his hands.

* * *

><p>Holy...shi...that's about all that can be thought of here. Let us hope Spencer will <em>finally<em> do the right thing, get some sense kicked into him. Come on Spence! She's pregnant! Kick it into high gear, man!


	32. Breaking Point

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 32 (Breaking Point)<p>

"Spencer! Take a deep breath man!" Socko's voice wracked him, silencing his ongoing rant. He was sitting on his best friend's couch, still carrying on about everything that was boiling together. He was not in a good position, not at all. He looked to his friend in the kitchen and saw him walking back, two beers in his hands. "Here man, have a beer." Appreciating the gesture, he took one of the beers from him, it was Dos Equis, a good import. Socko sat next to him and brought his own bottle to his lips, taking a quick swig and sighing afterwards. "So your lady's pregnant, and I _can't_ say I'm surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Socko smirked knowingly at him. He sighed, defeated, and took a swig of his own beer. He wasn't surprised either, to be honest. They were going at it like mad after the proposal, never stopped. "Okay so I can't be surprised either, I'd be lying if I said we _didn't_ have sex."

"And as your best friend, I would know better." Spencer chuckled at that and turned his eyes down to his beer. He really wasn't much of a drinker, but whenever he was hanging out with his good friend, he thought it was okay to have a beer. Usually he kept the limit at one or two. Socko leaned his head back onto his couch and breathed out a sigh. "So what are you going to do, man? Still think you can take on this world alone?" Alone? He hadn't been alone, he had Sasha and Carly. Or was Socko referring to what he'd been telling him all along, that he needed to suck up his pride and ask for help? "You have no money, your landlord's bosses are assholes who will probably raise the rent _again_."

"In all honesty, Lewbert was a better landlord…"

"I can agree to that." Spencer huffed for a moment and took yet another swig of his beer. He let the refreshing liquid wash down some of those shot nerves, giving him enough capability to simply focus on the conversation and to relax. "You got this brat trying to force out money that you don't have, you haven't managed to get a job yet, your life is quickly falling to shambles and you're even closer to having a heart attack than you were five months ago." Spencer laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. Screw heart attack, he was sure an aneurysm would form at this rate.

"And now Sasha's pregnant with my second child. I've been struggling to take care of my family, to do what's best for them…"

"Your old man kicked you to the curb, now do I have to force Lenny to give you an eviction notice for you to start seeing what's been in front of you this _entire time_?" Spencer frowned and looked to his friend, he met Socko's eyes and gently tapped his beer bottle on his leg. "Forgive me for the language I'm about to use, my friend, but…Pride is a nasty _bitch_ who likes to fuck people, send them away riddled with a disease that slowly drains them of their energy and kills them. Right now, pride has you by throat, and is squeezing everything last drop of life from you, and you don't realize it! You still think that you have to prove you can take care of your family, well _you did_. That woman is not leaving your side, your sister is more loyal to you than she _could_ be, so no matter what, you don't have to prove yourself to them! Just _take care_ of them."

"So what are you saying? A real man would suck up his pride and do what's right for his family?" Socko smirked at him and quickly smacked him upside the head. He flinched and stared at his friend with annoyance. "What the hell?"

"Oh I've wanted to do that for a while now. You're _finally_ getting it…I think. Tell me, has your mom or uncle offered you any more help?" He took another sip of his beer and turned his gaze to the window. It seemed every time he talked to them, they asked him if he needed any help. No matter how many times he turned them down, they still offered. He honestly thought his mom wanted him to move to Florida, that woman would probably try to do anything she could to get him to go down there. Socko stared at him for a minute, then took another drink. "Well man? You know you don't have to use their money if you don't want to, but they're still family and they're willing to help any way they can. If they offer the money to help, you could take it, you don't have to _rely_ on it like you did with your dad, and I think that's the difference." His eyes went skyward for the moment and a pleasant feeling started to grow in his chest. He was imagining himself sitting beside Uncle Ken while Sasha talked with his mom and grandma, who was playing with her great grandchild. Then Carly, playing chess with her grandfather, a game he always said he wanted to teach her to play. God, he would love to give that gift to them.

"Maybe you're right, maybe that is the difference…and yes, they offer their help every time I talk to them."

"Christmas is coming up, isn't it? What gift is greater than the gift of family?" He lowered his gaze to the bottle and smacked his lips. It couldn't be done.

"It's impossible, I think Dad may already know something's going on. He knows I changed my number and cell phone a while back." Sock raised an eyebrow. Spencer took a pause and carefully lifted the bottle to his lips. After a few seconds of holding the beer on his tongue, he swallowed it and closed his eyes. "Dad's still sending emails, he's been trying to figure out what my new number is and why he's unable to trace my phone."

"He used to have that phone of yours bugged? Jesus man…how the fuck does your dad know what you're up to anyway?"

"My computer's bugged, and he can trace where that thing goes too based off of the IP address. Therefore, if I were to take it to Florida, he would know, and there'd be only one reason I'd go there…and that's my family."

"So then…fear of your dad is keeping you from…" Socko took a deep breath and slowly set his drink on the floor beside Spencer's leg. "You're exhausting me here. You have all your important files on a flash drive, right?"

"Yeah…" He took a drink and leaned his head back against the couch. Was he really that stupid? He _wanted_ to do what was right for his family. He _knew_ it would be better to accept his mom's help, and as Socko was saying, not rely on their money, but to take their help.

"The only way your dad knows what you're up to is that computer?"

"Yep." Where was Socko going with this? Was he detecting a hint of aggravation in his friend's voice? "I use the computer to keep track of my bank account and some other stuff."

"Can you change your password through your phone, making it so your dad can't see that?"

"Yeah man, I already did that."

"Okay…and you usually take your computer with you when you go to apply for jobs, right?"

"Sometimes, it's in my car right now…"

"Oh, okay. And there's _nothing_ important on that computer right now?"

"Nothing. Everything is on my flash drive." He felt the couch shift and opened his eyes to see Socko making his way towards the front door. He raised an eyebrow and slowly sat up. "Dude? What are you doing?"

"Something I should have done a long ass time ago. Now stay right there Spencer…" He watched the door close and stared out the window, eyeing Socko as he opened the door of the sedan and grabbed the computer off the passenger seat. Within seconds, Socko was back inside, grinning ear to ear.

"Socko?"

"Now as your best friend, I'm staging an intervention."

"What are you doing?" Then in one foul swoop his best friend lifted the laptop into the air and slammed it hard into the ground. Panic, anger, and shock ran through his veins as the computer smashed. Next, Socko started stomping onto the computer, breaking it further. "Socko! Stop! Are you nuts?" He rose from the couch, rushing towards Socko, who merely pushed him back and pointed an angry finger at him.

"You fucking _know_ what you have to do, Spencer! I've had it!" Socko's words shook him, rattled him like a cage. He fell back to the ground and looked up as Socko shook his finger at him. "I've been sitting here, watching my best friend fuck his own life up because he was too afraid of his own goddamn father! Your father should be the _last damn thing_ on your mind! If you can't bother to get away from that bastard to take your mother's help and take care your family, then what is that really saying about you? Huh? You're better than that, Spencer! I know you are! Sasha, Blake, Carly, they all deserve to be happy and not living in some bottom of the barrel lifestyle because you're too fucking _proud_ to take the help of the only family you got left that gives a shit about you! Now Sasha's pregnant again, and because you're too afraid to do what you know is the right thing to do, that baby might be born in poverty! Is that what you want for them, Spencer? Is it?"

As Socko stood there, huffing and puffing, looking ready to blow a gasket, Spencer eyed his busted computer. Knowing Socko, he would probably have taken a bat to that thing if he had to. He was frozen, unable to talk. Socko's words hurt worse than the beating he suffered from Nevel's two thugs. Maybe those were the words he needed to hear, maybe this was exactly what he needed. If he didn't do something, they'd be out of money faster than he could say 'Where'd it go?' Then they'd be homeless, and probably all alone. Not to mention, Nevel was still bothering with them.

Tears stung his eyes as he looked to his best friend. His chest heaved and his heart was racing too quickly for him to even think properly. He knew Socko was right, everything he _said_ was right. He didn't want to be that person, he wanted to be the person that did the right thing for his family. Screw his father, he wanted to take care of his children, his fiancé, his sister. He was fooling himself into thinking he didn't _need_ any help, and the most important people in his life were suffering because of it. Socko was correct, they _did_ deserve better.

Socko slowly knelt beside him and put his hand to his shoulder, looking into his eyes. "Listen man, I'm sorry. You know you're my brother, but I had to do something, I can't stand to see you throwing your life away, no, your family's life away. You need to wake up, you're smarter than this…"

"No…you're right…I've been selfish, haven't I?"

"Do you need me to break something else of value?"

"No!" He leaned forward, his eyes wide and frantic. Socko smirked and folded his arms over. "Dear god no…"

"You know, I remember when we were younger. The old Spencer would have tackled and pummeled the shit out of me because of that laptop. You've gotten weaker." He flicked his eyes to Socko and glared darkly. He remembered those days, the college days when they used to wrestle each other almost every day.

"I have not…"

"Yeah you have, the Spencer _I_ knew would never have let his dad walk all over him. You've gotten so afraid of his control that you're pussyfooting in the wrong direction."

"I am not." He huffed and turned his eyes away. He felt that old anger rising back up, what was Socko trying to do? Was he seriously so weak that he didn't know how to push away his father's shit?

"Your father wants you to bomb, he wants you to screw up and lose your family, and you're letting him get what he wants right now." Socko closed his eyes and nodded firmly. "Allow me to play the devil himself for you, like the old days, shall we? Remember, the days you said you'd never be anything like your father, the days you said you would never let him control you or keep you from doing what you wanted in life? You got so weak that you only carried half of that deal out, dropped out of law school but were too afraid to tell him…" Socko straightened up and put his hands behind his back, deepening his voice momentarily and shouting, as Robert would do. "Look at you, you're a failure!"

"I am not…" He muttered under his breath and turned his head away from Socko.

"What was that? You look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"Shut _up_." Spencer growled, but it still came out but a mere whimper. He stared up at Socko, imagining him as his own father.

"I was right, you can't support yourself, much less a family! You can't do shit, can you? My son is a pathetic, whiny _bitch_."

"I am _not!_ I can take care of myself, I can take care of a family. Even if it means accepting help, that doesn't mean I can't take care of my own family." Socko leaned forward, still smirking deviously. Spencer's anger was still rising, and all the hate he had towards his dear old dad was boiling. He'd been holding it back for so long, when he'd always wanted to give his old man a real earful.

"You don't have what it takes. You're sitting there, a kicked puppy. You couldn't even take care of the daughter of a stripper, much less a whole family." Words his father would definitely have spoken. All that rage in him, it finally clicked. He was done taking orders from his father, done being controlled by the bastard.

"Fuck you!" He lunged for Socko and tackled him to the ground, still imagining him as the one man he truly loathed. He grabbed his shirt collar and slammed him against the floor. "You asshole! I will do everything I _can_ to take care of them, and that's more than you can say! More than you can _ever_ say for yourself! I'm _done_ with you! Hear me old man? I'm done with you!"

"What are you talking about? You're _nothing_! You can't even depend on yourself, you have to rely on my money!"

"Fuck you! I don't need your goddamn money! I just need a job!"

"Which you can't get. You're a hopeless piece of shit, I'm sorry that I even gave birth to you!"

"Screw you!" He started to punch, but stopped just before his fist connected with its target. He slowly lowered his hand and gripped Socko's collar. He felt his friend's hands on his wrists and opened his eyes. Sweat was dripping from his hair, and his breathes were coming out in rapid, angry huffs. His best friend was looking up at him, proud.

"Now there's my determined friend, it's been way too damn long. Why'd you stop?" Spencer blinked, trying to still his trembling body. All the anger and hate that he had been holding in, it was gone. In place was relief. Calmness, and peace.

"You're not dad, for one thing…"

"Right…So what are you going to do now?" He breathed in and exhaled, trying to think. His phone started blaring, his Uncle's ringtone. The men looked over and Spencer's heart jumped to his throat. "Well? I think you know what to do."

"Yeah…accepting their help, it doesn't mean relying on their money, it just means I'm accepting their help." They didn't even have to _give_ him any money. They would likely let Spencer and the others stay with them until they could afford to live on their own, or at least, until he got a job.

"Right. Now get off me, I don't exactly feel comfortable right now dude. Seriously, you almost just punched me in the face." Spencer smirked and smacked him upside the head. Socko winced and quickly rubbed the sore spot. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"You could have fought back if you wanted to. Oh, and I've wanted to do that for some time now, that was an expensive laptop! I could have sold that damn thing!" Socko laughed as he reached over and grabbed his phone from the floor, it had fallen from his pocket during the struggle. The two men rose up and moved to the couch, grabbing their beers from the floor.

He clicked the answer button and put the phone to his ear. "Uncle Ken? You called?"

* * *

><p>Go Socko! "Bout time someone kicked some sense into him.<p> 


	33. The Right Choice

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 33 (The Right Choice)<p>

"Actually it's all of us, Spencer." His mom's voice was the first, Ken and Travis greeted him from the background, and then his grandma Rebecca, Aunt Regina, and cousin, Michael. He had to say, he was impressed, his mom actually pulled the whole family to try to talk with him. He heard Michael speak next, with a very impressed tone of voice.

"Man, I'm twenty eight and still don't have a girlfriend! You're thirty, got a fiancé, _and_ a son! To top it all off, why have I not met them yet? Aunt Jessica's been going _nuts_ over here! So have mom and dad!" Spencer closed his eyes and chuckled once. So, they didn't know Sasha was pregnant again, yet. Or at least, they didn't seem to know. "You need to get down here, and give me some tips, dude!"

"You're not too busy with the political life, Mike?"

"Nah, I'm an intern over at the mayor's office. I would _like_ to be a congressman, but I'm also _trying_ to enjoy my life while I can. I mean hey, you don't have to be a stuffy stick in the mud just because you're in politics. Right Dad?" Ken laughed and Michael merely chuckled. "Aunt Jessie's thinking of retiring in a year or two, and I _think_ she's getting a grey hair." Spencer heard his mother gasp and smiled at the image of his cousin flashing her a teasing grin. "_I_ think, you and that lady of yours ought to come down here, go to college if you want, and get a job."

"Not wasting any time there, eh Cuz?"

"No Spencer, I'm not. You want to see my political kung fu? I can show you, you'll lose, my dad taught me how to debate growing up, I was number one in class!"

"You were number five, son," Ken said with a slight laugh. Michael sighed and bowed his head.

"Can't let a guy dream, huh pops?" Socko looked to Spencer, amused. The phone was on a high enough volume that he could hear the whole conversation. He was clearly enjoying every second of it. "Anyway, I took have my degree in law and political science, so if you're in need of legal help…don't shoot me down now."

"Actually Mike, I might need you some day." Maybe sooner than he thought, considering Nevel.

"Well that's good to hear. Um, Grandma's been getting antsy, really wants to see her great grandson, but you know how that goes. Old people, right?" He heard someone smack him upside the head and grinned as Michael let out a small yelp. "Ouch! It was a joke, grandma. I think I'm holding up the line here, Aunt Jessie really seems to want to talk to you. I just wanted to get some words in, you know, with everything going on. You're always talking to dad, or grandpa, and hey, I'm your cousin. Why haven't we talked? We used to be so close when we were kids, right? Well…whenever we visited for the holidays, which _are_ coming up, might I remind you!"

"Okay, okay, let mom talk!" He laughed heartily and sighed. He really did enjoy hearing his cousin's voice, as well as everyone else. Though, he didn't want to lose connection or anything before he got a word in edgewise with his mom. "So what's up Mom? You've got the whole gang rallied up for this phone call, must be important."

"It _is_," Jessica replied. "I have something I want to tell you."

"So do I, but I'll let you go first." Only because he didn't know how she'd react if he told her Sasha was pregnant again. Jessica took a deep breath and spoke.

"Ken and I were trying to figure a way to help you out, and well, Michael suggested something to us…we went out and we found you a job that we thought you might enjoy." His eyebrows rose and he quickly leaned forward, immediately interested in what they were saying. Was it a job here in Seattle, or was it in Tallahassee, home of the Florida Carlsons? At this point, he honestly didn't care where, or what, that job was. He might enjoy working in Florida more than here in Seattle, though. Considering he'd be close to his family. "I don't want you to think I'm trying to control anything or that I'm being a nag, I just want to see my children and my grandson…"

His heart sank and he was sure he heard a single, faint sob. His eyes dropped as Socko watched him. Hearing the desperation in his mom's voice, and even in Michael's voice, it hurt. It wasn't just him suffering, or Sasha, Carly, or even Blake. Everyone was suffering from this.

"There's nothing I can do, Spencer. You're there, I'm here, and if I even _try_ to go there, your father's got his paranoid little military friends everywhere. They'll see me in an instant and he'll…god knows what he'll-"

"I don't want to talk about him, Mom. As far as I'm concerned…" With a brave breath of air, he inhaled and exhaled, finally trashing the thought of his father. "He's nothing to me. He has no business around my family, either…The things he's done to us, to you, I can't accept any of it anymore. I won't let him control me, and he's not controlling you guys either…"

"No way!" Michael interjected, cutting off Jessica before she got a chance to speak. "I know a thing or two about what's going on, and I think we can take him out. Legally, _and_ politically. See, I've been working on a thing with mom and grandma…Mom's a lawyer, as you know, and Grandma knows her way around the legal system too. _So_, I think we could make a case, but, we might want to run everything by you first."

"Well, Socko just destroyed my computer, so I don't have the keylogger problem that my dad did." Michael laughed and Spencer's eyebrow rose.

"It's about time someone put an end to that damn thing. You were just asking for your old man to control you, the longer you kept using that thing." Socko made no effort to conceal his pride in Michael's statement, much to Spencer's amusement. Jessica cleared her throat and Michael sighed. "Sorry, I cut off Aunt Jessie. She wants to be the one to tell you the news, so, here you go!"

"Right, so mom, what did you find?"

"Okay, here we go," Jessica leaned back in her chair, creating a light clicking noise as though she were sitting in a wooden rocker. Spencer lifted his eyes skyward and chuckled inwardly. _Please_, let her not turn into a rocking chair grandma.

"Mom, are you in a rocking chair?"

"Yes, we're all on the back porch of your grandpa's home." So, they were all either in lawn chairs or rocking chairs. "Is that bad?" He started to crack up and slowly shook his head.

"No, not at all, but I have to ask…have you taken up knitting lately?"

"Well it _does_ calm me down when I get too stressed out. I knitted some cute little pajamas for Blake!" Spencer cleared his throat and Michael burst out laughing. He heard Ken tease Jessica, knowing exactly what she sounded like right now. Who knew what would come next, maybe she'd start trying to teach Sasha how to knit! She paused for a brief moment and sighed, ignoring the teases. "Moving on…I don't know what it's going to take to get you to come down here and let us help you. It gets lonely living on my own, you know I never remarried…"

"After Dad, I can't say I'm surprised. You've really lived on your own all this time?"

"My house isn't big, but it's big enough for you, Carly, Sasha, and Blake. It's a two story, not a mansion, just a two story. I have my bedroom, there's a big bedroom upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs, one of which can easily be converted into a nursery! I'll even move upstairs if you and Sasha prefer to be on the same level as Blake. The reason I say that is because both rooms are large. I don't know, we could set it up however you guys wanted, I just…" She paused again, and no one interrupted her. Silence filled the air. Spencer appreciated his mom's concern, he actually _wanted_ to move in with her. "It isn't much, but you can stay until you've found a job…we even have a great high school here in Tallahassee! Carly would love it!" Was she actually begging him, now? Had this been bothering her so much? "You know I worry about you guys…"

"I know mom. You'd do anything to get us down there, huh?"

"More than you know…As for the job, Michael was going through the list of jobs being registered in the city and one of our old friends was looking for someone to fill a security guard position. It's at the local art museum, they have a lot of great exhibits, so I think you'd enjoy that, right? We talked to the owner and he said he'd be happy to hire you, assuming you can move down here and give him an interview."

He smiled and his heart swelled with pride. Of course he'd enjoy that, it combined his degree and something he at least had a passion for. "Well, how much is the pay?"

"Well, it's a starting pay of thirteen dollars an hour, you have health benefits and all the great things that come with the job. As time goes on, you get pay increases. There's also a great community college nearby here if Sasha wants to try for college. You guys can work that out…Carly _is_ my daughter, so you know I'd pay for her to go to college."

"Right, and there are good universities in Florida…"

"Yeah, and then you can always go to whatever graduate school you want to go to. Even law school, if you want to finish that, I don't mind what you do as long as it makes you happy. Just…please come down here?" Her near timid tone brought a tear to his eyes, and to make things harder, he missed them all just as bad as they missed him.

"Mom, I don't think you'd sound so timid if you knew my news…" He was strongly leaning towards Florida, it was the right thing to do, wasn't it? If he took his family there, they would be _happy_, they'd be free. "But first, I want you to know, I don't want to rely on your money, but I will take any help you have to offer me…"

"Really!" He heard collective gasps, all of relief. How tense were they over there? How important was he to them? It did sound like he was very important to all of them, especially if they were honestly holding their breaths this long. He even detected a sliver of hope in his mother's voice.

"Yes, I will, especially because it's the right thing to do. For my family, it's what I _should_ have done…I can't prove squat to them here, especially not since I can't do anything here, I'm like a trapped rat…I can get to that in a minute, just wanted to point that out. Socko kind of knocked some sense into me and I'm ready to do the right thing…" She sniffled once and Ken decided to speak up.

"So what's going on up there, son? What's your news? Because you sure don't make it sound good…"

"Oh, well, it's a mix of bad and good Uncle Ken…you may not like what I have to say, and I really do hope it isn't too late to ask for help, I'm sorry I was so damn stubborn. Doesn't seem like it is, but I get the feeling I've worn you guys pretty thin…"

"I've told you before, we'll always offer to help you. You're family, after all, and for the record…we _are_ getting tired of Dad bragging about being the first and only one to see Blake." Spencer laughed and took a small sip of his beer, having forgotten about it. After he took his drink, he set it back down and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Well, things aren't looking good right now. I'm running low on money, only have about nineteen hundred dollars…not to worry you, but I was just mugged…" Jessica gasped and the others groaned. As if that would make them any _less_ worried. He bit that one. "That kid, Nevel, wants his money back after he bought iCarly and then let it fail...and he's added interest apparently, so…he's become like a loan shark of sorts-"

"Makes no sense," Michael interrupted. He raised an eyebrow as his cousin decided to point out some facts for him. "From what I understand, I think you told Uncle Ken when Carly sold it, Nevel bought the URL and even let Carly sign a transfer document. Since it bombed under _his_ care, he has no right to ask for money back. That, and, he's just a kid…did this mugging have anything to do with that, Spencer?"

"Yes, they were two thugs that worked for him. Our neighbor is investigating it right now."

"You have nothing to worry about. Legally, he shouldn't even be doing anything to you, even if you took it to court, you would likely win." He heard Aunt Regina and Grandma both state their agreement. This made him smile, knowing that his family did have his back. "Anyway, sorry to interrupt, carry on…"

"Right, so I _don't_ have a job yet, Carly's still working weekends at an eight dollar an hour job."

"Hey Spencer," Regina's voice caught his attention and he waited patiently. "Do you think Carly's boss has any connections around here? It would be great for her to have a part time job while going to school." He had been thinking about that, to be honest. He hated to imagine Carly would be unable to work if they moved.

"I don't know, I think he might have a cousin that moved there from Jamaica recently. We'll have to ask."

"Okay, keep an eye out, if her boss can recommend her, then that would be fantastic. What else do you have for us?"

"Besides having a creepy little kid sending grown thugs after us, and not having a job? Well…there is one more thing. It's a _good _thing, something I'm really happy about, but...it could be very bad if I'm living on the streets. So my eyes are open now, because of this."

"Please don't be vague, boy," Travis stated with a quirky tone. "Spill it out, we can take it."

"Okay…" He closed his eyes and inhaled, not intentionally trying to build their anticipation. This really wasn't a matter like that, he was just nervous to their reactions. He knew they would be thrilled that Sasha _was_ pregnant, but he was certain they would be scared to death of the living arrangements. He had to just come straight out, no more messing around. "Sasha's pregnant with our second child…"

There came a sudden silence, to which Spencer was _sure_ he heard crickets chirping. For a second, he thought he'd lost connection, so he checked the phone, but they were still there. He heard the shuffling of footsteps and his mother's rocking chair suddenly stopped creaking. After a minute, his mom's voice came over the phone, calm and silent, but slowly rising to a panicked state.

"Spencer…this is your mother speaking. On the behalf of your entire family, we are now pleading even more…_come to Florida!_ You can't possibly keep your family up there in that volatile environment. I already worry terribly about you, and now Sasha's pregnant again? We want to be there for you guys, we want to help create a beautiful wedding ceremony, and more than ever, I want to see my babies and grandbabies. I don't want you guys to have to be in that dangerous environment! Please, please, _please_ come _home!_ I don't know how much more I can take of all this worrying! If we have to buy you a ticket and U-haul, we will! I'll do _anything!_"

"I know you would, Mom…" His lips curved upwards and he slowly rose to his feet. "What's going on over there right now?"

"Well Michael just ran off to the phone to call the owner of that museum, Ken's run to the computer to look up plane tickets, train tickets, bus…Regina's trying to get in touch with our gynecologist. By 'our', I mean the doctor that she and I go to, the lady's cheap and more than willing to help, I'm sure."

"All before I even say whether or not I want to go down there, huh?" He smirked playfully and Socko shot him a look of disapproval. He immediately frowned and slowly nodded his head, now was hardly the time for jokes of any kind.

"Spencer please, no games, this is serious…I think Mom almost had a heart attack when she heard you say Sasha's pregnant. Everyone here is concerned about her, about Blake, and Carly." That sounded about right, those three were more important than he was, by far.

"Those three deserve to be happy, Mom. I'm done messing around, I'm going to do the right thing. I don't know how much time we have, but I'll talk to Sasha and I'll talk to Carly. We want to keep our sedan, so…would it be okay if we drove? We honestly don't have much of value here besides clothes. I assume you have bedsheets? I was wondering about what you said earlier…why do you have three other bedrooms?"

"They're all guest bedrooms right now. When I came to Florida, I moved back in with Mom and Dad, so it was their house, until they moved down the street a couple years ago." Well that made sense, and it was understandable she didn't want to move. "They wanted a smaller place just for themselves and this was our family home when Ken and I were kids."

"I see, well that's great."

"Yes, and I do have plenty of bed sheets. You can stay with me, no cost. All bills paid for, _everything_. If you want to pay your car insurance, health insurance, and all that, you can. I understand your need for independence, to raise your family, but for the love of god, don't do it _alone_…"

"Maybe it's time I say I need help, then. Swallow my pride, do the right thing for Sasha, Carly, Blake, and that unborn child. They deserve only the best. Give us time."

He heard Michael come back to the phone, a sense of urgency in his voice. "The owner of the museum wants to know if he can see you by next month at the latest. Also, maybe Mom and I can fly over there, I want to personally give that little weasel, Nevel, a legal ass kicking. Then, we can drive _anything_ of value in a U-Haul truck." Well, he wasn't sure if a U-Haul was necessary or not, they honestly didn't have anything of value. He turned his eyes to the computer fragments on the ground and sighed. Neither of them had a computer. Anymore.

"Would I be able to tell you 'no', or will you come down here anyway?"

"I'd probably go up there anyway."

"Uh huh."

"I _promise_ not to flirt with your girlfriend!" Spencer laughed and imagined his cousin sitting there with a full grin on his face. He knew Michael was just joking, the guy loved to have fun, but he'd never actually openly flirt with any of his friends' or relatives' girlfriends.

"Okay, you can come up here if it means that much to you."

"Yes! I get to meet everyone before the others!" He did a little cheer, and Spencer was almost certain he heard him bump into something. Michael settled and cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. Now if you'll excuse me…I just got a bowl of nachos on my pants…and yes, we were snacking…we're not anymore." Spencer could hear his mother snickering, or at least, trying to stifle her snickering.

"All right, and hey, if you guys fly over here, you know you'll probably be flying back. Right? Unless you rent a U-haul truck or something and have a driver go with you."

"We'll just see what happens when that time comes…"

"Spencer," Jessica sounded much happier now that Spencer decided to actually ask for help. "I'm so glad you're going to come down here. Once you talk to Sasha, that is." He smiled and closed his eyes, Sasha would be more than happy to go there.

"Sasha will most likely be all for going to Florida."

"Do you guys have enough money for gas? It's probably going to be four dollars wherever you…are you _sure_ you don't want to just sell your car and fly down here?"

"No, we love that little sedan. We'll probably get a second car someday, but whatever we do, we want to keep that sedan. Besides, Carly's been a little iffy about airplanes ever since that trip to Japan."

"Understandable…It's almost a two day drive, isn't it?"

"I believe so, but we'll stop at a motel or two. We should have plenty of money in that bank to make the trip. Whatever we don't need in the line of clothes and other items, we'll sell or donate. We'll figure something out." Socko cleared his throat and waved his hand in the air.

"Hello, Spencer, my friend Ulysses owns a U-haul truck. You don't need to rent one or anything, he can help you guys move." Now there was an idea. Some days it paid to have a best friend like him around. He smiled and leaned back.

"Mom, I'm going to let you go and hurry home. I want to tell Sasha and Carly about this."

"Okay sweetie. Stay in touch!"

"I will. Love you mom."

"Love you too, honey." He hung up his phone and looked to his friend with a smile. Socko had tears in his eyes. It hit him then, by moving to Florida, he'd have to say goodbye to Socko and any of his friends here. It was for the best, but it sure was going to sting. They'd always have the internet, though, wouldn't they?

"Well Socko…"

"No words man, I know what you're thinking…no words, just relax and enjoy the rest of your beer." He looked down to his beer and sighed, there was about half of it left. In all the excitement, he hadn't really drank any of it.

"Right…" The two sat back on the couch and stared at the television, gazing at their solemn reflections. There would be no goodbyes between them. Once brothers, always brothers. That was how it had always been. Perhaps that was how it would always be, even if they were miles apart.

Simultaneously, they sipped their beers. Spencer could not explain how he was feeling in this moment. It was like he was on a whole different plane of existence, that he was walking on air, but the painful reminder that he'd be leaving everything in Seattle behind, it threatened to bring him down. On one side of the coin, he would miss this place, but on the other side, this city had epitomized everything that he hated. Good memories, bad memories, he really couldn't determine whether leaving it all behind would be positive or negative.

"You know Socko…"

"Yeah man?" His voice was silent and firm and unshakeable.

"When that wedding happens…if you're able to fly down to Florida, I'd like you to be my best man at the wedding."

"Yeah…that sound good." Socko took one final swig of his beer and slowly rose to his feet. "I'm going to toss this out, you best go to your woman now. They're probably worried about you." Spencer slowly nodded his head as Socko walked off. Maybe, just maybe, things would look up. This, this was real, actually happening. More and more, though, he felt that he was doing the right thing. Now he truly was doing right by those he loved.

* * *

><p>Double posted since originally, this was part of the last chapter. Looks like Spencer's <em>finally<em> made a decision to take care of his family.


	34. Giving The News

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 34 (Giving the News)<p>

Spencer walked into his home, first eyeing the surroundings, marking anything they could possibly need. The walls were rather bare, but there were still photos and important valuables lying throughout the house. A U-haul truck would truly be a good thing. So, if Socko's friend Ulysses were up for a drive, they could most definitely move anything they had to.

Sasha and Carly were on the couch, watching Blake play with a toy train. He smiled with joy and cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of all Three. Blake rose to his feet and called out to him, hurrying over to hug his leg. Happily, he reached down and lifted his son up. Sasha and Carly moved over to him, both clearly concerned about him. "Carly? You're off work already?"

"T-Bo gave me the rest of the day off. How are you holding up? We've been wondering where you were."

"I was hanging with Socko, then Mom and them called…" Carly smiled slightly and Sasha's eyebrows rose curiously. "What if I told you, all of this…all this struggling…can be over without relying on someone else's money, but taking help offered?" The girls gaped, both seeing where this conversation was heading. "I think I may have a job very soon, but there's one condition, and I'm doing this for all of you." Blake put his arms around his dad's neck and looked over to Sasha with a smile. Sasha smiled at her son, then looked to Spencer.

"Where's this job at? What are you talking about, what condition?"

"The condition is, we pack everything, take the sedan, and drive. Off to the 'sunshine state', stay with mom for a little bit until we can afford our own place." The girls gasped with delight and quickly moved towards him, hugging him. Blake squealed with joy at, once more, being part of a sandwich. He likely thought all this attention was about him, and in a way, it was. The girls backed up and Spencer took a deep breath, trying to recall what specific information was the most important. "Carly, you'll have to attend a high school there, we can transfer your transcripts and everything, no problem. Mom's also made it clear that, since you are her daughter, she will be paying for you to go to college."

"Really? Yes!" Carly bumped her fist into the air. Sasha clapped once and Spencer watched with a feeling of pride lifting into his heart. God he loved seeing them smile. After a second, Carly paused and gave him a quiet look. "Wait, what about T-Bo and the Groovy Smoothie?" Ah yes, that was important!

"Aunt Regina wants you to see if T-Bo has any connections in Florida. If so, can he get you a job transfer of some sort down there? It would be great for you to have the work experience going through school and college."

"I think he has a cousin there, actually. I'll ask him. What else?"

"Well, I think Aunt Regina and Michael are going to be flying down here to help with a few things." Carly jumped for joy, extremely happy that she'd get to see her aunt and cousin. He turned to Sasha and met her happy eyes. "For you, if you want to, there's a community college that Mom's suggested." He knew Sasha had wanted to be a teacher at some point of time, so maybe she'd jump for the opportunity.

"You think I should go to college?"

"If you want, I know you wanted to teach. You can go to college and get a degree in teaching." She smiled at him and Carly quickly nudged her, grinning brightly.

"That's a great idea, Sasha!"

"Yeah it is." She looked around the house and moved her fingertip to her lip. "So how are we going to move all this stuff?"

"That's the thing, Socko has another friend, Ulysses-" Both Carly and Sasha lifted their eyes skyward and sighed through a smile. He understood, and he was surprised too that Socko had yet _another_ friend involved in some handy group. "Yeah, he owns a U-haul truck and can probably help us with the move. Like I said, I wanted to take the sedan so we can have a family trip right there. We can't really stop and enjoy the scenery, since the owner of this place wants to have a job interview with me."

"Right. Where's the job at?" Now this was what pleased him, and he hoped they'd be pleased too.

"I'll be a security guard at an art museum, making about thirteen to fourteen bucks an hour, starting pay. With benefits, might I add." Sasha put her hands to her mouth, covering up her ever widening grin.

"Spencer, that's great! I'm happy for you! Your mom found the job?"

"Sort of, they all kind of banded together there. All of this is for you guys, though. I want to make sure you know that." He leaned down and set Blake on the ground. Blake took the opportunity to rush towards the other side of the room with his toy. Spencer locked his eyes with Sasha and stepped close to her, putting his hand to her waist and giving her a soft, reassuring smile. "I'm extremely proud to be a father, and happy that we're going to have another child, and I don't want that child to be born into a bad life. I don't want Blake growing up in a bad life."

"He's been pretty happy lately, I'm impressed." Blake _was_ branching out more and not being dependent on always being close to his mother or father. He was starting to trust people a little more, since James and Juanita were good people. "It's going to be interesting to see how he reacts to the rest of the family. He really took a liking to your grandpa."

"Yeah, I have a feeling he'll like the relatives. They're a fun bunch. Not your typical politician." He smirked playfully and flicked his eyes to Carly, who was watching almost absently. "I quote my cousin Michael, referencing Nevel, he wants to 'legally kick his ass'." The girls stared at him for a moment longer, both confused. "It means Nevel can't legally demand money for a successful site's failure _after _he bought it. Aunt Regina's a lawyer and Mike double majored in college, Law and Politics." Sasha's smile grew bright and Carly laughed gleefully.

"Great!" Carly cheered. "Maybe Mike can deal with Nevel, then! I can't wait to get out of here. I want to see Mom so badly." Carly rushed forward and hugged him once more, squeezing tightly. She looked up at him, her cheekbones high as heaven and redder than a rose. "What made you decide to do this? Seriously, we've wanted this since it became an option!" Yeah, he had noticed that, and he really couldn't make up for the stupidity of his prior actions.

"Well Socko put it in perspective for me. He also shattered my laptop…" Carly laughed and Sasha's eyebrows lifted into the air. He shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I have important stuff on a flash drive. I think he got a little pissed that I was letting things get so bad, so, this is it."

"Dad can't spy on you anymore, in other words?"

"Yeah. I don't know what they have planned for when we get there. I think they're going to try and do _something_ with Dad. He can't control us anymore, he can't." Sasha moved to the table and looked down at it, running her fingers along the surface as though for the final time. She took a breath and moved her gaze towards him.

"Isn't there like a bunch of evidence against your dad or something?" What could really be done to the man? At most, if he came after any of them, they could likely arrest him for something. "He bribed a federal judge…not only that, but the judge actually allowed it." He was pretty sure Aunt Regina had discovered some sort of proof of that, along with every single threat he made against Jessica and her family.

"The threats he made against mom, the things that kept her from being able to come to Seattle for us, she's managed to save it all." The Carlson family may have been building a case against him for all these years. Perhaps they were also waiting for Carly to be old enough to decide for herself legally, meaning, Robert couldn't try to take her away from the Carlson's. "The other day I talked to Grandpa, he seemed like he already had something in mind, but Regina's the one going about all of this without dirty politics."

"Grandpa Travis…he seems powerful."

"He is, a lot of people could be intimidated or terrified of him. He's a good man, but if you rub him the wrong way, he does have tricks of his own." It did make him wonder, maybe there were something more to how that loan shark problem had been fixed. "He doesn't like for anyone to mess with his family."

"Do you think they would try to get your dad kicked out of the military?"

"Would they _try_?" He chuckled softly and carefully ran his hand through his hair. Oh what a question that was. No, no they wouldn't _try_. They _would_ remove him from the military. "If word gets out that Dad not only abused his ex wife, threatened her into staying away from her own children for thirteen years, and bribed a federal judge into granting him custody…He would be ruined. His life, in shambles. He wouldn't have the military backing him any longer." Sasha folded her arms at her waist and pulled the corner of her lip back in thought.

"So if they build this case against him and get him revoked from the military, what's to keep him from coming after them?"

"Nothing, but then there's nothing supporting him. He becomes nothing more than what he is, a _thug_. A monster…Mom probably knows he would go after her, but she's strong."

"She's a politician!" Carly interjected with admiration and enthusiasm. "Of course she's strong! She wouldn't let him hurt her, he wouldn't get close to her."

"True, and if he did, he would be arrested." He looked to Sasha and felt his pride rising higher. His lips curved up as he looked to Blake, now sitting next to the doorway towards the kitchen, bouncing his toy up and down. Things really would be looking up soon, or at least, he hoped so. He promised them he'd take care of them, that he'd show responsibility, and that's exactly what he was going to do. "Well, we may as well see what we want to take with us. Carly?"

"Yeah?"

"Take the car down to the Groovy Smoothie, ask T-Bo about that cousin of his. Then I'd like you to spend some time with Sam, Freddie and Gibby too. They should know about this move."

"Right…I'll get right to that." She gave him a look of admiration and closed her eyes. "I love you Spencer. You don't know how happy I am right now…Thank you." He smiled back at her and watched as she made her way out the door. His heart was starting to swell, this was the first time in a while that he felt like he was doing something _right_ for once!

He felt a warm sensation on his cheek and saw Sasha gazing into his eyes, her hand caressed his left cheek and her expression was so relaxing and endearing. "Spencer Shay, if _ever_ there was a time you made me feel so proud, so happy to be with you…I've stood by your side, and I knew when I said 'yes', and I know even more now, I made the right choice…to place my love and my trust in you…" His eyes danced into hers and his heart began to pound. Anymore and his heart was certain to burst.

"I'm glad, I couldn't ask for a better woman than you at my side through all of this." She smiled at him and lifted onto her toes, kissing his lips with a soft tenderness. He leaned forward into the kiss and sighed once she pulled away. Every time she kissed him, it was like she was putting a spell on him. "I love you."

"I love you." She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight. After a minute, she released her hold and lowered her hand into his. "Come on, let's go through the house and start picking out what we need and what we don't need…"

"I was thinking of selling or donating what we don't need to goodwill."

"That works." She turned around and moved his arm up to his shoulder. He reached forward and kissed the back of her neck, then watched with satisfaction as her body shuddered from the kiss. She looked back, smiling at him, then led him through the house. They could start in the back room and work their way towards the living room.

* * *

><p>I do believe Sasha and Carly would be dancing right about now, or better yet, the entire family in Florida. <strong><br>**


	35. Opportunities

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 35 (Opportunities)<p>

Carly hurried into the Groovy Smoothie, and in her rush, nearly knocked down an employee. "Sorry!" The employee waved the accident off and smiled cheerfully at her. She saw T-Bo shaking his head, chuckling. She made her way towards him, barely even shaken by the run in. "I didn't mean to run into Taylor, I'm just excited. I have some great news!"

"I can tell you got _something_ going on." He folded his arms and smiled at her. Carly breathed in and looked over to the door, she'd called her friends up and asked them to come down to the shop. They were all on their way. How would they take the news, she wondered? Would they be happy for her? She was _finally_ going to meet her other relatives! Her mother wasn't the only one she hadn't seen since she was young, some of these people she'd never even _met!_ Thank god Blake would know them. "So, what's got you in such a happy mood? I didn't think you'd be in a good frame of mind at all today, after what happened earlier."

"Yeah, but Spencer talked to Mom…we're moving to Florida!" T-Bo's eyebrows lifted up and he gave her a gentle smile while moving over to the smoothie machine with his rag. "Everyone seems to have come up with this idea that maybe you know someone in Florida and could give them a recommendation for me?" She really would miss him, but she was too excited to think about that right now. After the excitement wore off, she was sure it would hit her. Either way, she couldn't be happier that she'd be getting out of the hellhole and into a place where just _maybe_ she'd be happy again.

"Well, I do have a cousin down there. Are you going anywhere near Lake Bradford? That's right near the Tallahassee Regional Airport, if you're flying there." Her mom lived near a lake, and Bradford _did_ sound familiar. At least the airport was familiar, since that's the airport that her Grandpa said he flew from. If she remembered anything about how her mom's house was described, it was a two story home surrounded by almost a 'forest' of trees on the sides and behind the house. A short walk through the trees led out to a lake that was on the outskirts of Tallahassee.

"Is that the lake that's on the south side of the capital?"

"Yeah, just on the outskirts."

"I think mom lives around there…Cypress Hawk Lane, I think she said was the street name." T-Bo tapped his chin and lifted his eyes up thoughtfully.

"It's been some time since I've gone down there, but I think I recall that street being around Lake Bradford. Terrance and I have gone boating out there. Anyway, my cousin lives just south of the lake, about fifteen minutes away in a small town, Woodville, Florida. If you take Woodville Hwy, you come to Oak Ridge Rd, first road into Woodville, if I remember…there should be a family dollar right there, next door is a Jamaican food shop. That's Terrance's store."

Only fifteen minutes away? That seemed like a long drive for work, but a job was a job, right? Hell, the Groovy Smoothie was literally ten minutes away from where she lived now. "Do you think you could talk to him? See if he'd be willing to hire me? I don't know anything about Jamaican food, but I'm willing to learn!" T-Bo eyed her and slowly rubbed his finger along the indent beneath his lower lip.

"Have you ever had Jerk Chicken before?" Once, and only once, but she actually enjoyed it.

"Yes, and it was tasty, but there's not a whole lot of Jamaican foods here…"

"Plenty down there, and I'm sure I could convince him to give you a chance. Any idea when you're moving down there?"

"Not sure, maybe within the next few weeks. Probably next week."

"Damn, you're a hell of a good worker. I'd hate to lose you so soon." Her heart sank and she slowly bowed her head. She felt a coldness descend upon her and thought about all she was leaving behind. Now it was beginning to affect her, and it scared her, but it _was_ for the better. When she lifted her head up, her friends finally walked into the store. T-Bo reassured her with a pat on the shoulder and a friendly gaze. "I'll talk to Terrance. I'll call you and let you know what he says, most likely he'll want to interview you for a position, but coming from me, I'm sure you'll have a job."

"Thanks T-Bo."

"Don't start feeling bad, this is a _good_ thing, okay? I'd rather you go down to Florida, work for my cousin and be happy, than to work for me while living in poverty." She chuckled and felt Sam brush her shoulder.

"Did I just hear T-Bo say you're moving to Florida?" She gasped in surprise and spun to face her friends, all of whom were eyeing her carefully. It wasn't how she wanted to invite them into the conversation, she wanted to let them down gently. T-Bo cleared his throat and moved towards the back. Sam tilted her head. "Is it true? You're moving away?"

"Come on guys, let's go sit down…" She led them to their usual table and took her seat. The trio sat with Gibby and Sam on either side of her, and Freddie straight across. She closed her eyes and breathed in, there was no easy way to say this. They had _so many_ memories together. "I love you guys, you're my best friends, and you'll always be close to me. Even if we're miles apart…" Geez, it wasn't like she was breaking up with them, but why did it feel this way? Her heart was actually _breaking!_ She opened her eyes and saw them all smiling, a mixture of happiness and sadness.

"Doesn't your family live down there?" Freddie asked, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over. She nodded and lifted her eyes to his. "That's what I thought. Spencer's decided to go down there finally?"

"Yeah…he talked to Mom and they found him a job at a Museum. The owner wants to interview him as soon as possible, and will most likely hire him." Sam clapped her hands together, her lips grew and her eyes lit up with excitement.

"Then he should take the job! Isn't that the break he's been hoping for? I mean sure it's not _here_, but…I think we all can agree it would be better for you to be with your family. Wouldn't it?" The tone in Sam's voice didn't express a _deep_ sadness, but a happiness for her friend. Sure, there was a sadness in there, perhaps she was trying to fight it off. "Just, I know it's all the way in Florida, but it doesn't mean we can't still communicate. You know Freddie and I are going to college in Texas, so…we won't be here forever either."

"I don't want to leave you guys though, you mean so much to me." Her body started to shake and the tears she was fighting were beginning to overpower her. She pointed her hand to T-Bo and drew in a rattled breath. "T-Bo has a cousin near Tallahassee that owns some Jamaican store, he's going to try and talk him into hiring me so I can have work experience while going to school." She looked over to Gibby, seeing him pull out his phone. He tapped the screen and glanced over to her.

"Do you know where you'll be living?"

"With mom…"

"Where's that at?"

"Cypress Hawk Lane." He nodded and started typing his screen again. She raised an eyebrow and watched, he seemed very focused in what he looking for. He let out a grunt of victory and moved the phone over to her. The others leaned inwards and saw a school website.

"The closest school to that location is Richards High School, and it has _great_ ratings." She smiled and took the phone in her hands, gazing at the website pulled up. The school was home of the 'raiders', the site had _loads_ of information that any parent would probably love. As she read the reviews on what people had to say, all good and pleasant, a tear was brought to her eye.

The school had friendly staff, always helpful to the students and their parents. On the front page was a list of faculty members and their emails, and also links to various places on the site. There was a picture slideshow going on beneath the list, showing photos of the school, students, and teachers. Her heart lifted as she watched the photos moving along, full classrooms, great sports, and friendly looking people.

Gibby reached over and started clicking back on his phone, leading to the Tallahassee Community College on Google. Fourteen reviews, a five star college. "I imagine that's where you'd go when you start college, it's very close to your mom's street address too." She moved her hand to her mouth and felt her tears running along her cheeks. _When_ she goes to college, Gibby didn't say _if_. She closed her eyes and choked out one silent sob. She was actually going to get to go to college! "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just…I didn't think I'd get to go to college. Not after what happened." He curled his lips upwards and started rubbing her back, soothing her. Sam reached over and hugged her shoulders. Her heart pounded in her chest as she opened her eyes and gazed down at the cell phone.

"Also nearby is Florida A and M University, they have a law school there, if Spencer ever pursues that." He tapped his screen once more and pulled up museums. The nearest museum that looked like an art museum was the Smith's Museum of Art and Science. Could Spencer be working there? "Look at all the opportunities you guys are going to have, so much more than you could ever have here." She slowly nodded and leaned her head onto Gibby's shoulder, trying not to keep crying those tears of joy. "I know you don't want to leave your friends here, but in all honesty, I haven't seen much of a life here for you."

"It just…I don't know what to think right now…I was happy, and then everything just kind of piled up."

"It's going to be okay Carly. We're all going to be cheering you on, you know that. We'll miss you, but we still have the internet. We're _happy_ for you, and I can almost guarantee Sam would be pushing you all the way to Florida if you tried to hang back here." Sam laughed and nudged her in the side. Carly flinched slightly and smiled at her friend, who had the widest grin she'd ever seen.

"Yeah I would!" Carly slowly sat up and wiped her eyes. God she would miss these three, but Gibby was right, she'd probably have more of a life in Florida. She folded her arms onto the table and stared down at Gibby's phone, which still had a Google Maps screenshot of the area.

"If it wasn't for you guys, I would have gone insane by now, you know that? I can finally see myself being happy again."

"That's all we want for you," Freddie remarked. "All of us, we'll be standing by you until you move, and then still be by your side, though we're miles apart. I'm just glad Spencer's finally doing the right thing. This craziness has gone on far too long."

"Yeah…I don't know when we're moving yet, probably next week…"

"Then we should make the most of the time we have left with each other." She smiled and quickly nodded her head while moving her arms around Gibby's and Sam's shoulders. Whatever they did in the next few days, they would do _together_. T-Bo called for her and she quickly looked over to him, he had a large grin on his face and a sheet of paper in his hand.

"Carly! Terrance says once Spencer settles on a date to move, call him. He's hoping to give you a job interview next Saturday, but he can change that whenever you figure out when you're heading down there." He moved from the front counter and walked over to her, setting the slip of paper down in front of her, it was Terrence's phone number. The place of business was listed above the phone and Terrence's name. _Authentic Jamaican Foods_. She would be willing to learn _everything _she needed to know. "Call him. I told him what a hard worker you've been and he's looking forward to meeting you, _also_, he's looking forward to getting you hooked on Jamaican cooking." Her boss and friend smirked at her and she chuckled. As she brushed away a tear, she turned her gaze down to the phone number and sighed.

These were the only non-related people she had in Seattle that she truly cared about, and never would she forget them. She would give Spencer the good news regarding Terrance. Maybe she would share the college and high school with them, so they could look into it. More than anything, though, she wanted to know that she really _would_ still be in touch with these friends of hers. A lot was about to change, she could see that, and she could also see that this change was good. Truly, a change for the better.

* * *

><p>So T-Bo has a cousin in Seattle that <em>may<em> be able to hire her. Things are starting to look up. **  
><strong>


	36. Cousin's Arrival

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 36 (Cousin's Arrival)<p>

Spencer rolled over on his bed, moaning as someone kept shaking him. He heard Sasha saying for him to wake up, but waved his hand through the air, brushing her off. "Five more minutes…please?" They'd been up almost all night, sorting through the things they wanted to take to Florida with them and the things they didn't need anymore and were going to take to the Goodwill store. "I promise I'll give you a morning kiss in five minutes." He heard his love take a deep breath, and then suddenly found himself falling towards the floor.

When he opened his eyes he saw Sasha, fully dressed, smirking at him. He rubbed his head and groaned, why did she have to go and do that? "Spencer, you need to get dressed _now_. It's noontime, Carly's up, and your cousin's in the living room." His eyes widened and he quickly shot up from the ground, a bit too quick of a rise though, as his vision started to become fuzzy for a split second. He put his hand to his head and moaned.

"Michael's here? Already? When did he get here?"

"Like five or ten minutes ago…In fact, our neighbors saw him and came over to chitchat, so he's being distracted. So is Aunt Regina, actually." They were _both_ there? Right, he'd forgotten that Regina and Michael wanted to tell Nevel to back the hell off of Carly before they decided to drop a legal bomb on his ass. "I made some waffles for breakfast, and it turns out, your cousin is quite hungry." He laughed and quickly shook his head.

"Nah, Michael's just a big eater, he always has been." He didn't know Michael and Regina would be over here so soon, to be honest, he thought he had another day or two. With everyone in as much of a hurry towards the goal of Florida, it wasn't a total surprise that they had decided to take the nearest flight out. "Now Carly's been holding Michael off from coming in here to wake you himself, but I don't know how well she's doing."

"Hah, it's like we're kids again!" She raised an eyebrow as he flashed a toothy grin. Whenever they were young and visiting each other during the holidays, they would always want to start the day out playing video games or something of the sort. Whenever one woke up, they would wake the other by dumping an ice cold glass of water on their faces, then proceed to pull them from the bed by the ankles. "Let's just say, we had fun ways of waking each other up as kids."

"I'll say." Michael's voice rang in his ears and he quickly looked to the doorway. He froze and his lips curled upwards, seeing his favorite, and only, cousin for the first time in nearly twenty years. To him, it didn't matter that he was still in his boxers. He was so moved by his cousin's presence that it brought tears to his eyes.

Michael was tall and had a well built body, though only slightly bigger than Spencer was. He was about average sized, had spiked red hair that he got from his mother's side of the family and dazzling blue eyes. He still had a bump on his nose from when he fell out of a tree-house when he was about seven years old. His face was flat, but his smile lifted his freckled cheeks up to his eyes. He had a deep tan and was wearing a short sleeved black shirt neatly tucked into blue denim jeans.

To see him again was refreshing, to say the least. In fact, he was almost certain this was still a dream, or at least, he would have thought that if Sasha hadn't shoved him out of the bed after trying to wake him for ten minutes. Michael's eyes were just about as misty as his were about to become. "Damn Spencer, if I knew how beautiful of a family you had, I would have come to get you out of this hellhole sooner!" Sasha's cheeks went red and Spencer's lips rose, and once more, he could feel the pride in his family again.

"Well, it took a little bit of time for me to have my senses kicked into gear, I guess." Michael laughed and walked over to him. He put his arm around his neck, then started rubbing his hand over Spencer's head. Spencer yelped and laughed as he tried to pull away. "Ouch!"

"And _that_ is for being an idiot. You had it coming." He took a step back and looked to Sasha, rubbing his chin. He grinned and extended his hand. "It's great to meet you! _Finally."_ He turned his gaze to Spencer, still smirking at him. "Oh yeah Cuz, I am _not_ letting you go for this." Spencer rubbed the back of his head while Sasha shook Michael's hand, though the handshake didn't last long. Michael quickly gave her a family hug. "In this family, we greet each other with hugs, if that's not a problem for you."

"Not at all," she replied. "It's really great to meet some more of Spencer's relatives."

"Oh yeah, you're going to enjoy it when you get to Florida. Now where you guys will be staying? _Beautiful!_ Aunt Jessie's got a house right outside Lake Bradford, which is on the edge of Tallahassee. It's kind of hidden away so no one can find her. I'm telling you, fishing out on that lake is _awesome_. Spencer remembers it, don't you Spence?" He wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulders and grinned.

"Vaguely, Mike…very vaguely." There were some years where his mom would take him to Florida to see his grandparents, his dad never bothered to go, though. During those holiday visits as a child, he and Michael would often go out with Grandpa Travis and Uncle Ken, who would take this boat onto the lake and hand them fishing poles. Grandma Rebecca, Aunt Regina, and Jessica would always sit on the shore, chatting, or reading some sort of new literature.

He could hardly wait to feel that rush of the lake breeze once more, and to watch the sunrise over the crystal waters. He closed his eyes and imagined, for the moment, taking the old boat out on the lake with Carly and Blake in tow, all grown up. He could picture Sasha waving on the shore with his mom beside her. He felt the cool breeze against his face, blowing his hair back. The air was crisp and the water rippled, splashed, with each movement of a fish. There was no peace greater than this peace, and it was in the loving arms of his family.

When he opened his eyes, he frowned at the current reality before him. It wasn't his dream, it wasn't his peace, and he loathed it. "God I can't wait for Florida," he grumbled and slowly moved towards his closet. "I hope we can get the hell out of here soon." It was the tenth of December, Saturday, and Carly told them just last night about T-Bo's cousin. "Could we likely get there by next Saturday?"

"Well, it's a two day drive. If you're staying at motels along the way-"

"Screw motels. There's going to be how many of us? Me, you, Sasha, Carly, Ulysses, Aunt Regina…I'd say we could stop at a motel halfway." That would give them three days, if they left Monday, they'd get there either Thursday or Friday. With a U-Haul truck, the sedan, and six eligible drivers, they could push as far as possible before having to stop. He wouldn't force them into exhaustion though, he _would_ stop. "Sasha, Carly and I stayed up late last night sorting through everything. If we pack today and tomorrow, give what we don't need to the Goodwill and start off on Monday, we should be good, right?"

Sasha moved over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention. "Is it possible for us to transfer Carly's transcripts to the school in Florida, or do we have to do that from here?"

"They'd mail the transcripts in." That was Regina's voice. Spencer's eyebrows rose sharply and he turned to see his Aunt smiling at them from the doorway. Her red hair curled down to her shoulders and her soft brown eyes gazed out through the brown glasses that rested easy on her slender nose. "If there's anything you have up here that can be done in Florida, it's best to do it there. It's easy to call a school and have them send transcripts in. The high school Carly would be going to is actually the Richards High School, their classes break for winter around the twentieth, and their classes begin around January 6th…plenty of time to transfer her. Is there _anything_ else tying you down here?"

"No, besides this house." Michael and Regina glanced at each other and Spencer moved his hand through his hair. He understood he'd be breaking lease, and there was a price he had to pay, of course Socko already paid that for him. He could, and should, move out as soon as possible. "The only thing left tying us to Seattle are our friends, and Nevel." Michael snapped his fingers and leaned against the wall.

"Ah _yes_, I'd almost forgotten about _him_." He hurried towards the door and glanced back over his shoulder. "Come on mom, let's let them get dressed and all. Spencer, when you're done, I'd like you to take us to see this Nevel kid. I was talking to your neighbor, James, and he says some police officers found one of Nevel's henchmen passed out at some bar late last night. Easy arrest." Well that was good news, it meant Nevel had lost half of his, so-called, _insurance_. "Honestly Spencer, I'm surprised you'd let some kid try and push you around. Doesn't he still have to listen to his mother?"

"I think he controls her…"

"Wow…Well then, dude's in for a shock of reality. This'll be fun, me and you, busting heads and taking names. Just like old times!" Spencer laughed as his cousin and Aunt headed out of the bedroom. Like old times indeed, they used to look out for each other whenever they got a chance. Whenever they were together, they were like an unstoppable tag team duo, even if it was for a few weeks per visit. If they went through the neighborhood and saw some kid picking on another, they tried to put a stop to it. Kids in school, they knew who they were, and they didn't have to misuse their parents reputation, they were working on building up one of their own. Too bad it all ended when Robert put his foot down and banned Jessica from seeing her family, then stealing custody when she divorced him and escaped his abuse.

"I suppose it will feel good to relax again…" He reached into his closet and pulled out a pair of dark jeans and a blue shirt. He looked back to Sasha and tossed the clothes onto the bed. She smiled as he moved his hands to her waist and gave her a quick peck on the lips, that morning kiss he promised her. "What do you think of Mike and Aunt Regina?"

"I think they are nice people, I can't wait to get to know more about them. You're really ready to take off on Monday?"

"Yeah, I want to get the hell out of this town as soon as possible. I want you guys to be happy and for me to be able to take care of you. I also don't want mom to worry anymore." Sasha's smile grew and she moved closer to him, hugging him tight. She pulled her head back and met his eyes.

"Your mom's been worried sick, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, but wouldn't you know, she's extremely worried about you, Carly, and Blake. Me too, but I think she's expecting me to be the responsible one here."

"Yeah. I can see that. I'm just…amazed that your family is so accepting of me. I've been so used to being judged that I didn't think anyone, much less a political family, would possibly accept me." Spencer looked past her for a second and saw Regina looking in with a smile, she'd just left the bathroom, and her hands were wet. Sasha glanced back and pulled away from Spencer for a second, meeting the gentle woman's gaze.

"Why wouldn't we accept you, sweetie? You're my nephew's fiancé, and you've stood by his side even in his darkest hour. We admire that about you, that you've had the strength to put up with some of that craziness of his." Spencer felt his cheeks turn red as Sasha broke out a giggle, then cupped her hand over her mouth. "I don't think there's anything about you that I would judge unfairly, the same goes for Kenneth, Jessica, or their parents. So try not to put yourself down because of how you grew up, show us who you are. We'll love you for who you are, not for anything less. The hard life you've led, the mistakes and the good things that you've done, hardships you've faced, everything about your past only makes you into who you are now, and from what I see before me…" Regina stepped inside and lifted her hand up to Sasha's chin. Sasha's eyes began to water and her lips remained in a bright smile as she tilted her head upwards just a bit and straightened her shoulders. "I see a beautiful, stunning woman who has a great head on her shoulders and will make a not only a great mother to her children, but a great wife too."

"R-Really?"

"Oh yes." Regina lowered her arm and hugged Sasha. "I hear you want to teach." Spencer sighed and took this moment to go ahead and start putting on his clothes, no more distractions. As he pulled his pants on, he watched the two women discuss. He was genuinely thrilled that Sasha was actually smiling, and that Regina was letting her know that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her.

"I would love to teach, maybe kindergarten, or English. I actually love working with children."

"Good, because if you're willing to take courses at TCC, that's Tallahassee Community College, Ken and I would like to help pay for your first year of school. Jessica's going to be paying for Carly's college, and all, so that's why it's Ken and myself. Once you and Spencer get on your feet and all, you two can take it from there. Does that sound good?" Sasha gasped and quickly nodded her head, then the two women looked over to Spencer. Regina's face softened a bit more and Spencer's eyebrows rose, he was already wondering about the whole money situation. "I know you don't want to _rely_ on your family's money, Spencer, but it's _only_ until you and Sasha can get settled. We're not going to put money in your bank, we're not going to do anything that you don't want us to do, we'll only offer help…so, does that sound okay?"

He didn't have the heart to turn down his Aunt, especially if she and Uncle Ken were going to help Sasha achieve one of her life's goals, and that was going to school. He knew no matter what, she _needed_ to do that, if not for her own self worth, for her family. It would actually help out _considerably_ for the first year, since they would be considered 'out of state' students for the first six months at least, and that meant the price was much higher. When they started to have to pay for school themselves, they'd be considered 'in-state' and would likely be able to actually afford it on their own. "Yeah Aunt Gina, anything for Sasha. That is, assuming she _wants_ to go back to school." He folded his arms across his chest and shot them a smug little smirk. Sasha practically leapt for joy and threw her arms around his neck.

"Yes!" She was like a child who just got the present she always wanted, and to see that joy inside of her, was worth _everything_ to him. She moved back to Regina and hugged her, trying not to squeal too much, for she didn't want to make a fool of herself. "Thank you Aunt Regina! Can I call you that?" Regina laughed heartily and hugged her back.

"Of course you can! You're my Niece, after all." Spencer glanced back at the doorway and saw Carly standing with James and Michael, Blake was in Michael's arms, grinning at the attention he was being given. James flashed a smile and leaned against the doorframe.

"Geez, I'm missing all the excitement?" He pushed off and made his way to Spencer, meeting his gaze. "So you're leaving us, huh? I hope you and your family will be happy, you've certainly earned it."

"Thanks. Are you and Juanita going to help pack things up?"

"Yeah of course. Why don't you and your cousin go take care of Nevel, I don't think you'll need me there. Ulysses is on his way with that truck of his. Juanita's going to help Carly and Sasha, and is your Aunt going with you or staying here?"

"I'm going to stick around here," Regina answered. "Michael knows what to do and what to say. He and I discussed it over the plane ride." Michael flicked his thumb up and grinned.

"Yep, let's go handle that pint-sized twat." Michael raised his hand up and looked to Spencer. Spencer smiled and gave him a quick high five, then gripped his hand. The two pat each other's back like brothers and immediately started heading for the door, making sure to say goodbye before they left.


	37. Karma is Hell

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 37 (Karma is Hell)<p>

As they stood before Nevel's front door, Spencer was overcome by a powerful feeling of security. He knew they could handle this, he knew he could trust Michael with anything. He watched his cousin ring the doorbell and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as Michael crossed his arms. They didn't have to wait long, Ms. Papperman opened the door, appearing as shy and timid as ever. She met their gazes and seemed to shrink on the spot. "Hello? How can I help you?"

Michael closed his eyes and smiled coolly, lowering his arms. "We're here to see your son, Nevel. Is he in?" The mother looked back over her shoulder and silently bowed her head, opening the door wider, inviting them inside. "Thank you." Spencer followed his cousin in and stopped at the couch while the woman started towards the basement door.

"Let me call him up for you. If he isn't too busy." Dear god, was this woman really afraid of Nevel? It disturbed Spencer greatly, _she_ was the mother here! Hell, all the money Nevel made off that computer stuff he programmed probably went into _her_ bank, he was almost too young to have an account of his own! The brat was fifteen years old for Pete's sake! Michael met his questioning gaze and returned his eyes to the woman.

"Can I ask you something, before you do that?" The woman stopped, resting her hand just above the doorknob. She turned her head away, but made no motion to open the door. "You're his mother, shouldn't _you_ have the say-so in this house? Are you even _aware_ of the stuff your son gets involved in?"

"I know he writes computer software for some companies his dad used to work for. That's about it, he keeps to himself generally." She lifted her head and looked back at him. "Would you two care for some tapenade?" She had bags beneath her eyes and her hair was a mess. Spencer almost pitied her, it was terrible that the woman would be so beaten down. "I can make some real quickly."

"No thanks, but I don't understand why the role reversal here. Sure it's none of my business, but you're the parent and _he's_ the kid. Why does he control you?"

"He makes the money."

"So? What can he do with that money? How old is he, fifteen?"

"Yes."

"So he can't drive yet, he can't own a house, and you have absolutely _no clue_ what he does with the money?" She lifted her eyebrows and slowly shook her head. Spencer looked to Michael, curious as to what he was doing here. "You don't find it the least bit odd? Not even odd that two grown men are here to see your fifteen year old son."

"I just assume you're his friends or something…he tells me to mind my own-"

"None of that." Michael waved his hand in the air and took a deep breath before placing his hand to his chest. "I'm Mike Carlson, my mother is a lawyer and I've got a law degree. This is my cousin, Spencer Shay, you may know him as the older brother of Carly Shay." The woman's eyes grew slightly as Michael took a strong step forward. "I'm not here to tell you how to parent, I don't even have kids myself, but I _can_ tell you that you need to monitor your son more often."

"Why? What's he doing?"

"Your son has been terrorizing my cousins for years, your son has been mixed up with two older thugs, one of which was arrested at a bar last night, and participated in a late night exchange one night in an alleyway, demanding a kiss from Carly." The woman's eyes grew even more and she slowly straightened her back. "They ransacked their apartment, and most recently, it would appear your son has ordered his men to beat my cousin up, robbed him of one hundred dollars in cash and is forcing them to pay six thousand dollars because _he_ screwed up. If you would like evidence of your son's wrongdoings, you can call the local police, I'm certain Officer James will be happy to tell you of your son's shenanigans. Unless of course, you already know about all this?"

"No, I didn't know he was doing all that." She bowed her head and closed her hands up. "I-I'm a terrible mother. I shouldn't have let him do all of that. Maybe I've been too generous with him…" She slowly rubbed her head and groaned. "Always these migraines…excuse me…" The woman looked to be in a state of total shock, as though she were trying desperately to understand what Michael had said to her. She wanted answers, and rightfully so. She opened the basement door and called down. "Nevel Papperman, get up here right now!" She said it with such conviction, though there was still a slight hint of fear in her voice.

"Mother! You know better than to order-" The woman's face tensed as Michael cleared his throat. She looked at him for a second and slowly shook her head, closing her eyes and muttering, then raising her voice to dangerous levels.

"You will not make me look like a fool of a mother…Get up here now, or I will turn _off_ your computers."

"You wouldn't dare, mother!"

"Try me!" What an impressive transformation, it was likely due to the realization and wonder of the things that Nevel had done. Spencer heard a loud crashing sound, then followed what sounded like someone stomping up the stairs. In an instant, Nevel barged through the doorway, raising his hand to his mother.

"You don't talk to me like that!" The woman recoiled for a moment and Michael cleared his throat. Nevel froze and looked over at the two, instantly recognizing Spencer. Michael turned his gaze to the mother and breathed through his nose.

"You're going to let him talk to you like that? _You_ are the mother, _he_ is the kid." The woman nodded and put a strong foot forward.

"Right. Nevel, I am your _mother_, and _I_ am in charge. You need to learn that, I won't tolerate your violence anymore, and I should have put a stop to it ages ago." Nevel slowly glared at her and started stomping on the ground.

"No mother! You have no right!" He slammed his foot onto hers and she let out a loud yelp. Then, with a powerful anger, she slapped him straight across the face. He froze, his eyes wide with shock. He slowly stepped forward, obviously never disciplined in his life. The air grew still with silence, Spencer had to admit, he was a bit proud of the woman's transformation here. Ms. Papperman narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger to him.

"Nevel Papperman, I've had about _enough_ of this, and I am not above sending you to boot camp. In fact, I've been considering it for some time." She put her hand to her waist and gestured to Spencer and Michael. Spencer's bruise was still somewhat clear, so it served as enough proof that something was up. "Now these men have informed me of some pretty disturbing things, and I need to know if they are right." Nevel clenched his teeth and waited as his mother continued onwards. "You've been terrorizing that Carly girl and her friends? Been involved with a couple of _thugs_? What have you been _doing_ under my roof!" Michael smirked and motioned his head to the door.

"Have you ever been in that basement? I'm willing to wager he's got everything you need to know on those computers." She stiffened and Nevel's face grew white as a hospital sheet. Spencer closed his eyes and chuckled inwardly as the woman bolted past Nevel and headed downstairs. The boy turned and shouted at her.

"No mother! You know you're not allowed down there!"

"This is my house Nevel, _I_ pay the bills! If I don't like what I find, you are in _big_ _trouble_ mister!"

"Like you can do anything to me…"

"What was that? Get down here this _instant!_" Nevel flinched and turned his glare upon the cousins. He lifted his finger and growled.

"You're going to rue this…"

"Save it punk," Michael stated with narrow eyes. "You'd better get down there and listen to your mother. We have business with you, but we'll get to that in a minute." Clearly, Michael had no patience for this kid, and neither did Spencer. He'd never seen such egregious behavior from a child to their parent! He definitely deserved to be sent to Military school. Nevel made his way downstairs, followed by Michael and Spencer. The mother was already going through everything on the computers, her eyes wide and full of tears.

"Mother…come on…" She put her hand to her mouth and slowly shook her head, shaking horribly. Spencer stared at the computers, wondering what exactly it was she was seeing that was so bad. Knowing Nevel, there was probably a lot on there he didn't _want_ to know about.

"I…am raising…a demon child…" She moved her hands from the keyboard and slid back in the chair. "No, no more…I'm cutting off access to the internet. You're no longer allowed down here Nevel."

"Mother! You can't!"

"I _can,_ and I _will!_ You have a list of people here that you want someone to attack because they're not doing what you want! You're terrorizing everyone! No, that's it, I'm sending you away. I can't tolerate this under my roof! What _else_ aren't you telling me?" Michael cracked his neck from side to side, exhaling softly.

"Now we get to the reason _we're_ here. Sorry to have caused all this drama…" Spencer stifled a snicker, there was no way in hell Michael was sorry to cause this. What he did was open a woman's eyes to the life of crime that Nevel was heading into. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this. Nevel growled at him and started for him, but Michael did not move. "You strike me, and you strike a lawyer that knows how to sue you." Nevel froze in place, his lips slowly began to separate and his eyes grew wide. "Now, my mother is a full-fledged lawyer and is fully prepared to file charges against you for defamation, assault and battery, and so on…I don't think you'd be too happy with that, now would you?"

"What are you talking about?" He sneered vehemently and shifted his glare between Michael and Spencer. Spencer wanted to say something, but he didn't mind letting Michael do all the talking here, after all, he was doing well so far.

"I'm referring to you using the threat of violence in order to make my cousins pay you money that they _do not owe_." Nevel's face fell and he rolled his eyes, quickly reaching a piece of paper on his computer desk and holding it up.

"I hold in my hand a URL document that states Carly Shay signed over a website that failed…"

"While under _your_ care and responsibility, if I'm correct. May I see that?" Nevel shrugged and handed the document over. Michael smiled at him and nodded graciously. "Thank you." He held the certificate up and led his eyes along the words, reading aloud. "This legal transfer document hereby grants…yada-yada…the signer agrees to signing over a fully working and successful URL…yada-yada…the signer relinquishes all responsibility and care of the website, thus granting the recipient _full_ responsibilities and rights as full owner of the URL." Nevel blinked and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well? I see nothing wrong with that?"

"Oh I agree." Michael lowered his arms and smirked. "Every word is binding, _and_ this is a legal document. Spencer, you've had a few years of law school, what can you tell me from what you just read? A simpleton could probably understand it."

"Yeah, true," Spencer replied with a growing sense of satisfaction. They'd won already, he was sure of it! "What that says is as of signing over a successful webshow, Carly has absolutely _no_ responsibility of it whatsoever. So, should it fail while under your care…" Nevel's eyes grew and sweat beads started to drip from his forehead. "You legally bought the webshow, bought over _all_ rights and responsibilities, hired two actors, _and_ the webshow was still successful for about a month before the actors quit."

"A month, huh?" Michael clicked his tongue and met Nevel's eyes with the sharpest of glares. Nevel's hands began trembling as Michael took a strong step forward, intimidating the short kid. "It was _successful_ for that long? Do we need to ask why the actors quit on you? I believe that's evidenced enough by that final webshow of theirs, is it not? Ms. Papperman, can you play that video for us on the computer? I want to see this?"

"If I can find it," she replied. Michael put his hands behind his back and grinned with satisfaction as Nevel slowly watched his mother type away at the computer. After a long moment of silence, she finally found the video where a woman's voice spoke out.

_"Welcome to the new iCarly, we're you're hosts, Danielle and Kyle. This…will be our final show. We're prepared to go out with a bang, but you see, we feel the need to quit as, we cannot be expected to work under such demeaning circumstances. Nevel has cussed us out at every turn, demanded us to do anything from getting him a soda to scratching the…harder to reach places…Also, the sexual harassment is too much, I can't do this webshow any longer, and Kyle is leaving as well. I'm sorry, but Nevel is impossible to work for…so please enjoy our last show for you guys, thank you for being so patient with us."_

Nevel's eyes widened and Spencer smacked his forehead, how the hell could Nevel seriously keep that video up? "I-I wasn't there when they shot that! They're not supposed to do or say anything that-"

"Would be detrimental to you, correct?" Michael asked simply. Nevel whined and caught his mother's disapproved stare. "Nevel, it is to my understanding that your constant harassing of my little cousin is due to her wanting to kiss you. As a protective older cousin, if I _weren't_ a lawyer, I'd be tempted to handle you how you handle people that piss you off, but I am fully prepared to sue you for sexual harassment and defamation. Not only that, but Spencer is also fully prepared to have his neighbor arrest you on any or all of these charges, which he probably will do anyway." Nevel quickly fell to his knees, begging, as though he finally understood the gravity of the situation. "Nevel, welcome to the _real world_, where you _can't _just order everyone around and demand things be done for you, every action has a consequence. Let me know if you'd like to appear in court…"

"No, please, you can't do that, I'm just a kid!"

"You're still legally able to go to jail once you turn ten. You're fifteen." Nevel looked to his mom and started shaking his head.

"Mother! You can't let them sue me, or arrest me! Honest! You wouldn't do that to your own son would you?" Ms. Papperman closed her eyes and crossed her arms. She sucked a breath of air and relaxed her body.

"Nevel, you are my son, but you are hereby banned from computers. I'm calling up the boot camp and sending you off to Military School, where hopefully they can shape you up. Yes in fact…" She looked to Michael and closed her hands. "I'm going to do that right now!" Nevel whimpered as she rushed out of the room. He lifted his eyes to Michael and narrowed them, growling dangerously.

"You will r-"

"Choose your words _very carefully_, Nevel." Michael smirked and narrowed his eyes. "We're not talking kiddie games here, we're talking the real world now. Fraud, slander, defamation, harassment, terrorizing, stalking, thievery, oh how juicy of a case this would make…You don't even legally have the right to demand six thousand dollars from my cousin. She owes you _nothing_, you legally bought that site and all the responsibilities, ran a legal site online for a month before it failed due to your _own_ problems…I'd say you're finished Nevel, and Officer Greene has enough to arrest you _without_ me having to bring all this up."

"W-What do you mean?" Spencer chuckled and Nevel shot him a look. In that moment, Ms. Papperman called down, something about the police. James had already deployed a couple officers, based off of a confession by Alfonso. In order to get a lighter sentence for his crimes and participations, he had to basically rat out Raul and Nevel. Nevel's eyes widened as the police started running down the basement stairs. He handed Nevel the document and turned away.

"I think we're done here, Papperman."

"No! I'll call off the debt! Please! I'm sorry for doing _anything _to her! Honest! I'll leave her alone from now on, I promise! She doesn't have to rue anything, she doesn't have to pay!"

"That's the point I wanted to make clear to you, Nevel. She _never_ had to pay." The police started to cuff him and made arrangements to seize his computers. He screamed out with tears welling up in his eyes, for the first time, he was truly terrified. "But you did save yourself a little extra grief from admitting that. I can say you won't ever have to worry about the Shays again."

"Then what? What now?" Michael smirked and turned his gaze to the computers. Spencer followed his gaze and slowly shook his head. Wasn't it obvious? Clearly Carly wasn't the _only_ person that Nevel had committed crimes against. Even his own actress just admitted on a video, across the world, that he made sexual advances towards her. If she wanted to bring it up, it was up to her. Alfonso may have also confessed to several beatings ordered by Nevel, who apparently had a blacklist on his computer. Since Nevel managed to say Carly owed him nothing, he was more than willing to close this part of his life and never bring Nevel up again. So was Carly, more than _happy_ to just forget about him.

"What now? We leave. You're pretty much screwed Nevel, no one needs our help in making sure you get what you deserve. Your computer, as well as your henchmen, will probably do that for you. Again I say, welcome to the real world, where your actions _do_ have consequences. Come on, Spence, let's bail."

"Right behind you, Cousin." The two of them made their way up the stairs, listening as Nevel screamed profanities at them. They brushed them off without problem. When they made it to the car, Michael gave Spencer a pleased and concerned look.

"You okay? Nevel won't bother you again."

"Yes. A little stunned, but…" He looked at the house and smiled, he was yet another step to happiness. Nevel truly wouldn't be a problem, he _finally_ was getting what he deserved. "Thank you Michael…just, thanks."

"You're my cousin, we got to look out for one another."

"Yeah, that's true." With that, Michael started up the car and drove off. Today began the first day of the rest of their lives.

* * *

><p>Go Micheal! Things are truly looking up!<strong><br>**


	38. Final Goodbyes

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 38 (Final Goodbyes)<p>

Come early Monday morning, about eight o'clock, everything was packed and ready to go. Sam, Freddie, Gibby, Pam, Marissa, Socko, Juanita and James were all there to see them off. Spencer had the perfect route mapped out. They would likely have to make some stops along the way to eat, take care of Blake's needs, and possibly switch drivers if need be. He was pretty sure he could drive the distances required, though. Of course, Sasha was pretty damn sure he'd be changing drivers.

He found various motels, and calculated they _should_ be arriving in Florida on Friday. Of course, that depended on the days that they felt they could do more driving. On the first day, they were driving to Butte, Montana, where they would settle in for the night. It was a nine-hour drive, so leaving now, they'd get there at five in the afternoon. This was a perfect chance for dinner, to rest up, and to leave the next morning. They'd leave Tuesday morning around seven and drive through Wyoming, and stop in Rapid City, South Dakota. Another nine hour drive, and it was home of Mt. Rushmore. They could visit that, have dinner, stop at a motel for the night, rest up, and leave the next morning. From there, they would drive another ten hours on Wednesday, and make a stop in St. Joseph Missouri, arriving there at possibly six in the evening. Thursday morning, about seven, they'd drive nearly nine hours to Memphis, Tennessee. They could visit the home of Elvis Presley, as it now hosted tours in honor of the great artist. Then finally, Friday morning, leaving about seven once again, after nearly ten hours, they would reach Tallahassee, Florida.

Behind the brown sedan was Ulysses, waiting in the medium U-Haul truck. There really wasn't _much_ besides clothes, pictures, and a few other valuables, like Blake's crib, that couldn't fit in the trunk of their sedan. Everything else had been sold and Lenny would be introducing new tenants to the house in a few hours. Spencer glanced around and saw Carly talking with her friends while Sasha spoke with Juanita and Regina. Michael and James were helping Ulysses with the U-Haul.

Ulysses was a short man, slightly overweight, wore glasses, and had brown hair combed back. He was a friendly man and more than willing to help with the move. Spencer felt the cool wind breeze though his hair and he slowly looked up into the sky. This was it. Almost too much like a dream to be true, but here they were.

He felt someone pat his shoulder and looked over, Socko had a soft expression on his face and his lips were turned up into a small smile. "So this is it man, once you're out, there's no stopping till you get to where you're going." They had so many years together, and every one of those years was important to him.

"I won't soon forget any of those good memories. You were a good friend, always will be. Even three thousand miles away." Socko laughed and brushed his thumb past his nose. He would have driven, but the U-Haul truck could only hold so many people. Ulysses would be driving, Regina would be in the passenger seat, and Michael would be in the back seats of the truck.

"I don't think I could forget any of those good times, man. If I ever catch you slacking off, I don't have a problem with coming down there and kicking your ass. Keep that in mind." Spencer laughed in return. There was no doubt in his mind that Socko would do that, but he didn't think he'd slack off. Not anymore. They looked to Sasha, she was full of life and joy this morning. In her arms was Blake, sleeping against her chest. Socko leaned his arm against Spencer's shoulder and sighed. "Man you have a beautiful family. Beautiful wife, great son, and I bet you'll have another good kid…you're doing right, Spencer. Once you're on that road, don't you dare look back. Think of them, all right? Think of where you're going and what it means…"

"Right…"

"Man, I know what your father did really hurt you." Spencer turned his eyes down and breathed in slowly. "I know there's a lot of negative memories back there, and I know you might start to dwell. You might even want to turn back here for whatever reason, but when I say keep driving, I mean it. You've got the whole world ahead of you now. Wish I could join you guys, but it would only be detrimental really. I'll be flying in for the wedding of course, just don't forget to send me a shout out when that date is set."

"I will. Thanks Socko, for everything." His tone was quiet and his heart was trembling in his chest. His eyes grew heavy while watching Ulysses and the others move away from the U-Haul, clearly ready to go. He moved his eyes to Carly, she and her friends had tears in their eyes. She hugged their necks and gave Gibby a quick peck on the cheek, much to his surprise. Spencer wasn't at all shocked, he knew Carly had been developing a bit of a crush, or admiration for Gibby, after all, he was the one who did the best to keep her sane during this tough time. Gibby's cheeks went red and he bowed his head for a moment.

Marissa and Pam made their way to him after having talked to Sasha, they were smiling, and _both _were crying those joyous tears. "I see a lot of good things for you," Pam said while hugging him. "You'll all be missed, but it really is for the best."

"Once I get a new computer, I'm sure I'll find you guys on Facebook." The women laughed as he hugged them back. Marissa crossed her arms over and stared at him, smiling and shaking her head after a few seconds.

"I know I was a little crazy at times, but I wanted you to know before you left, I thought you were a good neighbor and an excellent friend to have." His brows meshed together and his heart lifted up. Those nervous butterflies started to fill his stomach, he never imagined Marissa really cared _that_ much. It was good to know she thought of him as a friend. "I'm glad Freddie knew you, and I'm sorry I pulled him from iCarly when I did. Seattle's going to be eerily quiet without you guys, you know that?"

Quiet? He smiled and closed his eyes, a stray tear fell along the side of his face. The air around him grew still and silent, the only sounds being made were the chirping of the birds and the blades of grass being waved about. "Ms. Benson, Ms. Puckett, it really was great knowing you guys…and I will miss all of you. It's a shame T-Bo couldn't be here to see us off."

"I suppose he had to work, did you already say your goodbyes?"

"Yes, yesterday we all went over to the Groovy Smoothie. He gave us a free meal." He never thought he'd see T-Bo shed a tear, much less, anyone else around here. "Carly's said goodbye to those at Ridgeway and has been talking to some advisors from Richard's High School." She would be talking to them all throughout the week as well, learning everything she could about the school and working through the transfer. Pam gave a brisk nod.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. I believe Sasha said she's going to go to school as well?"

"Yes, definitely. I'll be getting a job at an art museum as a security guard. I might go back to school after a while, work on my degree some more. I'm not sure, to be honest." It had been some time since he worked on any sculpting, and he wouldn't be doing that when he got to Florida. Work and family would take primary, art was and would only be what it was, a hobby. He could always take some sculpting classes at TCC if he wanted, or could afford it. Either way, the change he was making was as big as this road trip would be. He would admit, he was scared.

"You'll do all right, I'm sure of it."

"Hopefully." He turned his attention to his family, they were all ready to go. Sasha hugged Juanita and moved to strap Blake into the child seat in the back. Carly stood on the other side of the car with her friends. He felt Socko pat him on the back and looked over as Michael and Regina waved from the side of the U-Haul truck. He didn't need an invitation. "I guess it's time to get moving. Everyone's said their goodbyes I guess…" He made his way to the front door of the sedan, Ulysses looked up and immediately headed around to the driver's side of the car.

Their friends all stood on the lawn, watching everyone pile into the cars, not a dry eye could be found. He entered the car and started it up, turning on the air and looking out of the window with a wistful breath. James walked up to his window and leaned in, hanging his arms over the open area. "Hey Spencer, you take care, all right?" Spencer met his eyes and smiled at him. "It's been great getting to know you guys, I'm glad you're getting a fresh start."

"It's about damned time…" His heart rose a bit as he looked to his right. Sasha wiped her eyes and turned her gaze out to the people on the front lawn. In the backseat, Blake continued to sleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. Carly groomed his hair and made sure once more that the seatbelts were tight around him. Spencer tore his proud eyes away from them and returned to James. "This is the happiest I've seen them in the last few months, this is what I live for."

"That's the way it _should _be." James pat his shoulder and slowly exhaled. "Drive safe and when you get to Florida, and each motel, be sure to call us all, let us know when you get there. Keep in touch, Spencer. "

"I will." Ulysses clicked the horn behind him and James quickly turned his head. He chuckled and stood straight.

"I guess this is goodbye. We'll miss you around here."

"I know, same, but it's for the best…" He looked back to his family, all of them were watching anxiously. His lips formed a crooked smile and his hand moved the automatic shift into drive. "Everyone buckled in? Say goodbye to everyone?" Sasha and Carly nodded. James moved back to the others on the lawn. "Then let's get moving…we have a long journey ahead of us." They looked out to their friends and started driving, everyone was waving them off as they disappeared from view. Once he reached Rainier Avenue, he took a right and started driving towards Highway 90.

It was a long, quiet drive. Even Blake still remained silent, soothed by the car's humming from the road. Carly was watching from the back windshield, smiling at the U-Haul behind them. Ulysses was driving, Regina was in the passenger seat and Michael's head could be seen in between them. Sasha opened up a book in her lap and started reading, possibly wanting to distract herself from all of Seattle's woes.

Once Spencer turned onto the major highway and started speeding up, he soon crossing over the large body of water and headed towards what was Mercer Island. "All right everyone…" They looked to him as he flicked his eyes to the rearview mirror. He heaved a wistful sigh as the buildings of Seattle became grey in the distance. "Wave goodbye…once we pass Mercer Island, we'll be out of Seattle for good. Nine hours, thirty minutes to Butte."

Of course it wouldn't be a straight drive, they would stop for breakfast and lunch, as well as making a few occasional stops to take care of Blake. The motel may be nine hours and thirty minutes away, but the actual drive could be close to eleven hours. The speed limit on highways was only seventy, so he made sure to stay that limit and didn't let any other cars distract him.

Goodbye Seattle, hello future. He returned his gaze to the road, his heart pounded anxiously in his chest. Sasha returned to her book and Carly leaned close to the window, gazing out as they crossed over the bridge into Mercer island. Seattle was gone from view, nothing more than a memory. They knew it wasn't all bad, just the last few months were, that was all. Hopefully they'd enjoy passing through the mountains, once they hit South Dakota, they wouldn't be seeing anymore mountains for a while.

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><p>There they go, I feel like singing that song "On the road again..." Haha, no seriously go listen: ht tp:www . youtube . com/watch?v=5v9-InvDwMw just take out the spaces. Let me know what you thought of this emotional chapter, assuming it was a tearful and emotional goodbye.


	39. On the Road

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 39 (On The Road)<p>

Tuesday afternoon, they'd reached South Dakota and settled into the super 8 motel. They were now going out to see Mount Rushmore, as a _happy_ family. The motels were costing them some amount of money, thirty bucks for an overnight stay at each. That was going to be four motels, bringing it up to one hundred and twenty dollars. The total gas would definitely come out to eight hundred at most by the end of the trip, then adding in breakfasts and lunches at places like McDonalds or Burger King, the total for the entire trip would come out to be a little over one thousand dollars. It wasn't so bad, though.

Standing before the mighty mountain of presidents, Carly was to Spencer's left, and holding Blake in her arms so he wouldn't run off. Sasha was to his right, holding up a digital camera and getting a good picture of the mountain. Spencer had his arms around their shoulders and grinned at the majestic structure. Michael and Regina were behind them, admiring the mountain while Ulysses spoke with Socko on the phone, ranting on happily with everything that had been going on so far.

"This is so beautiful," Sasha commented while snapping the pictures. She looked over at Michael and called for him. "Michael, take a picture of us!" Michael walked over and took the camera as the family moved to the railing overlooking the mountain. They posed and watched as he lifted the camera to his face, aiming for them.

"All right cousins, smile." Sasha laughed and moved her hand through her hair, trying to keep the wind from blowing it in her face. Spencer smirked, and just before Michael clicked the camera button, he grabbed Sasha's waist and planted a firm kiss on her lips. Carly looked at them and laughed while Sasha sighed into the kiss. Michael snapped the picture and lowered the camera, chuckling softly. "Of course you do that." Spencer pulled away from his dazed fiancé and smiled into her eyes.

"I'm just making memories." They turned back to Michael, Sasha's cheeks were bright red. Spencer put his arm around her shoulders and smiled at the camera. Carly stayed standing next to Sasha, her arms around Blake, who eyed the camera with amazement. "All right Mike, take another, but we're saving that picture."

"Of course." This camera already had dozens of pictures of the mountains, lakes, and the family. Every picture, gave Spencer a deep fondness. Blake was a little confused about the constant traveling, but he seemed okay with it when they tried to explain that they were moving to see family. A somewhat difficult task to explain to a child only two and a half years old. The concept of moving probably fell short for him, but he did seem happy that he was going to see his grandmother. "Look natural!" They grinned and ignored the wind blowing their hair all over the place. What was one windy picture?

Ulysses walked up to them after the picture, a taco in his hand. He swallowed the bite in his mouth and moved his thumb to the truck. "I found a taco bell down the street, got everyone some tacos if you want any." At the mention of tacos, Spencer's stomach rumbled violently, he hadn't had much to eat during today's trip. They all graciously followed Ulysses to the truck and waited as he pulled out a large Taco Bell bag. Finally, some food, and there was even some food that Blake could eat. Sasha didn't usually want him eating too much heavy foods, but whenever they stopped at McDonalds or Burger King, he was able to eat the chicken nuggets.

The next day they left Rapid City, South Dakota, early in the morning. Halfway through the day, while passing through Omaha, Nebraska, Sasha was on the phone with an advisor from TCC. Mrs. Bryant was her financial aid advisor. Sasha had already filled out her application for the Spring Semester at TCC online when they stopped off at Butte. "So January 9th is the start of the Spring classes? My financial aid's been approved?"

_"That's correct, your FAFSA's all filled out and everything, I would like for you to come in once you get in town. Someone from student services will give you a tour of the campus and you can meet your education advisor, who will be able to go over your degree plan." _

"Okay, we should be arriving Friday, is the campus open Saturday?"

_"There are a few people here Saturday, I'm sure it will not be a problem if you want to come in Saturday. You could come in Monday morning, if you would like, and get some rest in."_

"I think I'll do that. Thank you very much." After she hung up, she gave Spencer a very satisfied smile. He looked back to her and put his hand over hers on her leg, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Looks like you're on your way to a degree. How does it feel knowing you get to start college soon?"

"Great, and in a few months, Carly and I might have the same classes. Right Carly?" She smirked teasingly at the girl in the back seat. Carly laughed.

"Maybe, but that's only if I go there or if I go to the university. Either way, I know what I want to do when I go to college. I was thinking politics, just like Mom."

"Sounds like a plan!"

Spencer breathed out and stared ahead at the road before him, listening to their conversation. It was nice to hear talk of the future, talk of plans, of goals. For the first time, he was noticing that the future actually seemed within their grasp. Now, what about Blake? He would be three next August, maybe then would be a good time to enroll him in preschool. It was not too young of an age, he could start Kindergarten when he turned four or five. "Sasha." She looked over at him, humming questionably. "When Blake turns three, you think we should send him to preschool?"

"Maybe…" The thought of sending her son to school scared her, but she did know it was coming. It would be hard, of course, since she'd be going various hours in the day _without_ knowing how he was doing. Spencer flashed a smirk full of playfulness and met her gaze.

"You're going to be one of those mothers that constantly goes to the school to check up on him aren't you?"

"I will not." She crossed her arms and huffed, then flicked her eyes to the rearview mirror. Blake had a tiny car in his fingers and was staring at it, turning it over multiple times. Her face softened and her lips curved up into a smile. Carly studied her and grinned, her eyelids slid down halfway and she slowly leaned forward.

"Yeah she is, Spencer. She'll be the mom finding excuse after excuse to see him, taking lunch after lunch to school. Or coats, or whatever it is that Blake 'forgets'." Sasha's face reddened and Spencer laughed at the visual of the kindergarten teacher having to see Sasha's constant face throughout the day. After all, Blake will likely have forgotten a number of things at one time.

"As long as I know my baby's safe, I'm happy." There was almost a certain guarantee that Blake would be well protected in the schools, but it was okay for Sasha to be a protective mom. Spencer reached over and rubbed her back for a split second, grinning at her from the corner of his eyes.

"It's perfectly fine if you want to be a protective mom, and totally understandable." When he reached back to the steering wheel, Sasha leaned her head gently on his shoulder and exhaled softly. She closed her eyes and moaned.

"I just can't wait to get to Florida, tired of the road."

"I know, we're almost to St. Joseph." He glanced out at a passing green sign, indicating fifty miles to go before they would reach St. Joseph, Missouri. He had a pretty good feeling when they reached the motel there, Sasha would likely crash on the bed with Blake. "Tomorrow when we get to Memphis, you guys still want to see Elvis's house or not?"

"I'd be up for it."

"All right."

Thursday, after the long day of driving and after having visited Elvis's home, the group relaxed in Memphis's Super 8. Carly was in the motel room with Blake, talking to Sam, Freddie, and Gibby on the phone. Ulysses was at the motel's diner while the others were in the pool area. Michael was swimming in the large pool and Regina was floating on her back, her red hair floated around her head like a pillow. Spencer and Sasha remained in the hot tub with the bubbles on high.

Spencer had his arm around Sasha's shoulders while she rested her head upon his. "Tennessee, the home of music legends." Spencer chuckled and leaned his head back, sighing softly as he felt Sasha slide her hand up his chest. She brushed her head closer to his neck and hummed. He was astonished with how relaxed her body was, but over the past couple of days, she'd been relaxed. Normally she was so tense and stressed out. "Am I mistaken, or are you actually _not_ stressing out?" She opened her eyes halfway and softly kissed his neck.

"You're not mistaken. This has been the best week of my life…"

"Mine too." He kissed her forehead and squeezed her arm. "It's only going to get better from here. I promise. Tomorrow we'll be in Florida, we'll be home."

"_Home_…it just rolls off your tongue." He smiled and repeated the word, paying great care to it. He was astonished, it really did just roll from his tongue with great ease. "It's a lot warmer home, isn't it?"

"Well, in Florida, it almost never gets less than seventy degrees. It's like a tropical paradise." Quite the climate change from Seattle, that was certain. Though, it wouldn't just be the temperature, but the environment, the people, and the life. Especially to Sasha, people wouldn't be so damned cold in her eyes. He lifted his hand and gently caressed her face. She lifted her head and gazed into his eyes. "You deserve everything…" Her breathing lowered and her eyes grew sad for the moment.

"Why did we let it get so bad? Why didn't we just do this from the start?"

"Because I was stupid, but I promise you, I'll never let it get this bad again. You are the most important person in my life. You and Blake, and I'll do everything I can to ensure you have the best life possible. I love you. You've got my heart, my everything…"

"I love you Spencer." Her arms slid around his neck and she carefully leaned forward, bringing her lips towards his. He pulled her close and met her halfway, not rushing, but kissing her tenderly. After holding onto that moment for a few mere seconds, they parted and cuddled close together, holding each other's hand firmly. She moved her head back to his shoulder and closed her eyes. "You are my everything too…I couldn't ask for a better man."

'_Man_', not a boy, not someone who is irresponsible, but a man. Her man. His heart filled with glory and peace, he couldn't be happier to hear those words from her lips. He closed his eyes, listening only to the sound of the water bubbling around them and the splashing of the pool next to them.

Only one more day on the road, ten then they would be _home_. Surely everyone would be tired, poor Ulysses would have to drive all the way back to Seattle. He was already planning to wait a couple days before driving again, and he did mention he'd actually drive straight through, not stopping nearly as often. For them though, their dreams would start to come true, slowly but surely. Sure, there was still the problem of his father, but he wasn't about to let that bother him. Not when he was a man of his own, Sasha's man. He had a family to take care of, and this time, he would give it his all. They counted on him, and by god, he would give them a reason to know that they _could_ count on him.

"One more day, baby," he whispered softly, squeezing her hand. She smiled cheerfully and cuddled closer. "Nine hours from home."

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><p>I hope you enjoyed that.<strong><br>**


	40. Home

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 40 (Home)<p>

A tall woman with curly brown hair gracing the top of her shoulders stared out at a large body of water. Her deep brown eyes darted anxiously over the still water while the wind blew her hair over her aging face. She was wearing an olive green, long sleeved, v-neck wool shirt, and deep blue denim jeans. Her arms were folded over her chest and her lips were pulled back and faint jowl lines formed at the corners. Her forehead crease was covered by her curled bangs. "Why aren't they here yet, Ken?"

"Relax Jessica." She looked over to her brother, who was calmly fishing a few feet from her. They only ever fished for sport, always throwing the fish back into the lake. Ken looked over at her with a subtle smile. He didn't have many age marks, hidden by his silver stubble. His graying hair was short, neatly trimmed, but his bangs fell in front of his light blue eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt and brown pants. "Last time they called, they were only an hour away. They'll be here soon enough. Stop worrying about everything, you're starting to look older than you actually are." She swallowed hard and moved her hand up to her heart, closing her fingers into her palm.

"Right, Right, I should just stop worrying." Hell, the whole damn time they were on the road, she was afraid that Robert might have gotten Tyrone or someone to follow them. She wouldn't have trusted Ulysses if he wasn't one of Socko's friends, and she did trust Socko because he was Spencer's closest friend. "Mom and dad are back in the house?"

"Yeah, Dad's still trying to get the rest of the fishing lines set up." Jessica looked towards the dock to her left, there was a white motor boat swaying gently beside it. The boat wasn't _big_, but it wasn't small either, it was large enough that someone could stand up and place their hands on the front guardrails to avoid falling off the boat. Four, maybe five people could sit in the boat and fish. "He's been wanting to take Spencer out fishing, probably hoping for a chance to give him passion." Jessica smiled and brushed her hair back. She recalled the vivid memory of sailing out on the lake with Ken and Travis when they were children. It was the same thing his father always loved doing, and thus the love of fishing had been carried through the generations.

"Are any fish biting today?" Ken's line twitched and he started reeling it in. Jessica lifted her eyebrows and watched him pulling the entire fishing rod, he'd caught a big one apparently. "So one's getting away from you."

"Nope, I'll reel him in sooner or later! Grab the net, sis!" She nodded and reached down beside her, picking up the small fishing net. Ken started to back up, hoping to pull the fish closer to shore. "Hurry Jessie!" She moved closer to the shore and watched the water, she could see where the fish was due to the swirls in the water, but it was a ways out.

"Not close enough to shore. Pull him in a bit more."

"I'm almost out of line here." The fish was so big that it was actually pulling Ken back, almost a game of tug of war. She couldn't help but to wonder, how many fishing rods were at the bottom of this lake? She squatted down and raised the net, narrowing her eyes upon the swirls of water where the fish was swimming like mad. "This thing is troublesome enough that I wouldn't mind catching it to eat!" She laughed and quickly swung the net through the water. She brought it out and frowned, it was empty.

"Missed…" She looked back and saw Ken clenching his teeth and slowly moving backwards, using all his strength to fight the fish. She turned her eyes back to the fish and grinned as it pulled closer to shore. "Just a little more, Ken!" This lake was so large that the chances of catching a fish this big was difficult. Most of the fish in this eastern part of the lake were actually medium sized. "What do you think he's doing on this side? The larger fish are usually on the west aren't they?"

"Yeah, something like that." His voice strained as he continued his struggle. The tip of the rod was high above his head. Why wasn't this fish at least letting _go_ of the hook? Usually once they've eaten the bait, they went on their merry way. Jessica looked back and eyed the trees that surrounded them. They had a usual path marked by yellow ribbons, their designated path that the family always took to and from the lake. She was almost certain she was hearing something coming from the forest of trees. "Jessie? How's the fish? Close enough yet?"

"Uh…sorry…" She looked back and frowned, the fish was out of range for the net. "No." Ken groaned and tried yet another step backwards. Jessica glanced over once more and froze, her heart stopped and her eyes widened, she saw a group of people making their way through the trees! She recognized Travis, her mother, and then, almost too good to be true, _Spencer!_

First Rebecca stepped out of the forest, her curly grey hair stood out in the sea of green and brown. Then, in almost a single file line, Spencer came trotting into view with Sasha, Carly, Blake, Michael, and Regina. She dropped her net and cupped her hands over her mouth, grinning widely. Ken was still focused on the fish. Regina smirked and leaned in towards him. "Hey honey, I'm home." His eyes widened with surprise and he relaxed his body, much to his displeasure. The moment he relaxed, the fish tore ahead, flinging him towards the ground. He let out a loud shout and released the fishing rod. He lifted his head and spit out the blades of grass. Jessica didn't even notice the fishing rod flying past her and into the lake. Warrior fish one, human zilch.

Jessica was in too much shock to move, her heart began pounding and her eyes started to water. When she met Spencer's eyes, she was sure it was a hallucination. Ken slowly rose to his feet and pat down his clothes. "I told you they'd be here soon, Sis." She started to move forward, though her legs were trembling dangerously.

Spencer had his arm around Sasha's waist, Sasha was holding onto Blake and looking at Jessica with curious eyes. Carly had her hands over her mouth and tears were slowly rolling down her face. Michael and Regina moved towards Ken, who was looking at Spencer's family with misty eyes. He extended his arms and moved towards Spencer, hugging him.

"It's about time you got here, your mother has been worried sick. So have I, but I've had to keep her from going nuts." He meant it as a tease, but it didn't effect Jessica in any way. She was currently trying to overcome the almost dreamlike feeling inside of her. How long had it been since she last saw Spencer? Carly was a little older than three, almost four, when they were last together. She moved towards him, moving a shaky hand to grace his face.

The minute she touched his cheek, his skin sent a spark through her fingers and into her body. She gasped softly, confirming without a doubt that he was truly standing there before her. This was no illusion. She moved her eyes to Carly, tears streaked her face and finally a feeling of peace overtook her heart. "My babies…" She threw her arms around them, clenching her eyes shut and starting to sob. "You're home." She felt them hug her tight, both weeping silent tears. Sasha stood behind them, smiling through her own tears.

Jessica's legs went limp and she hung to her children's necks, still sobbing. It seemed hardly fair that she was the last one to see them, but it didn't matter. Everything that was important to her was here finally. She didn't want to lose them, not again, never again. Her eyes moved to Sasha and Blake, her heart shot up and she started to wipe her eyes. She didn't want to cry, she was hoping she'd avoid doing that, even though she figured it might be impossible.

"You must be Sasha, and this is Blake…I'm sorry, I didn't want to cry." She wiped her hands again and felt Ken rub her back, smiling reassuringly. Sasha shook her head and quickly wiped her own eyes.

"It's okay, expected. I'm so glad to finally meet you..." She looked to Blake and bent down, setting Blake on the ground. Blake looked up at her, confused. "This is your grandma, Blake. Your grandma and Great Uncle Ken." Ken gasped and laughed once.

"She gets grandma and I _already_ have a 'Great' before my name? I feel old now." Blake turned his head to Jessica, gazing at her with silence.

"Gamma Jessie?" Jessica heaved a single sob and quickly nodded her head.

"Hi Blake, I'm glad to meet you…we spoke on the phone, I remember that."

"Granny!" Blake ran for her and wrapped his arms around her leg. She reached down and lifted him up. He was adorable, and so happy. She never dreamed she'd be able to hold her grandchild, and now that she had one to hold, it was truly a miracle. "Grandma, we saw the rock men!"

"Rock men?" She smiled as Blake waved his arms through the air.

"Big rock with four faces! Daddy said they were important men! Do you think the rock men are important?" She sniffed and her heart went aflutter. The ground beneath her vanished, turning to clouds. She was in heaven, certainly.

"Yes Blake, those four are very important."

"Who were they?"

"Presidents, Blake. The leaders of this nation, you'll understand when you grow." Blake grinned and moved his arms around her neck.

"Mommy and Daddy say we're moving here! I like it better here, I looks nicer. Does moving really mean we're not going anywhere else? I'm really tired of moving places."

"We won't be moving again for a while," Carly said while rubbing Blake's back. Blake looked to her with a bewildered gaze.

"You mean it? We're not going anywhere after this?" He looked to his parents with wide eyes. "Truth, mommy, daddy? We're here for _sure_?" Spencer nodded and Sasha gave him a reassuring smile.

"We're not leaving this place honey, no one can make us."

"Yay! I am so tired…can I go to bed, mommy?"

"Yes dear." Jessica handed Blake to his mother and looked towards her house through the large amount of trees.

"I have a toddler bed for him to sleep in if you think he's ready for it." A toddler bed was basically a small twin bed with rails on the sides. Sasha smiled at her and took a look at Blake, he was getting a bit big for that crib.

"He should be sleeping in a bed by now, the crib we have is going to have to go to our second child. You say everything's set up?"

"Yes, we started fixing up the house the second Spencer said he would come down here."

The house was an average two story, brown home, with a front porch that had a bench swing near the oak door. The first floor had peach colored carpeting and walls painted a light desert shade. The front door opened into a large living room with a fireplace, crème couch, simple television and a chess table nestled behind the couch. The living room had three doorways in it, the one at the north side, directly parallel with the front door, led into the kitchen. The doorway on the east side of the room, which was behind the couch facing the television and in front of the red loveseat that faced the fireplace, which sat a few paces to the right of the door, led into the first floor bathroom.

The door on the west side led into the semi large master bedroom with grey carpeting and brown walls. There was a window to the far end of the room, which faced the foot of Jessica's queen sized bed. The bed had four pillars reaching up to a iron bar that framed the bed, crème curtains fell from the bars and cloaked the bed. There was a television in between the bed and window, a brown dresser with a mirror on the right side. To the left was a door that led into the master bathroom.

On the other side of the fireplace was an archway that led into a small hot dog shaped hallway with two bedrooms on both ends. The bedroom on the right end of the hallway had a toddler bed, shaped like a racecar, propped up next to the wall. The walls of the bedroom had been painted a blue color that matched the light blue carpeting. There was enough space in the room for a crib on the other side, next to the door. In the back wall, there was a window with a large vertical dresser in front of. The room to the left side of the hallway was the room designated for Carly, with light purple, almost pink stripped wallpaper, peach carpeting, and a full size bed that had a pink bed gown with matching pink bed sheets.

In the living room corner closest to the front door and the hallway arch sat a brown metal staircase that spiraled onto the second floor. The second floor had a pool table, a balcony overlooking the kitchen, with brown maple rails. It had brown carpeting that spanned the entire level. The pool table was closer to the rail, which had three black stools along the edge of the balcony. The wall to the left of the table had a rack of pool sticks with the triangles, balls, and chalk. In front of the pool table was a brown leather couch that faced a flat screen television on the wall. To the right of the table was a door that lead into a large bedroom.

The bedroom had a large queen sized bed with pearl white covers, a lacy design ran along the edges of the comforter, and the bed posts towered into the air. There was a window against the wall opposite the door. At the foot of the bed was a large open space that eventually met up with the top floor bathroom. There was a marble countertop, the same yellow marble countertop that matched the kitchen counters and other bathroom counters. It had one sink in it and a door beside leading to the toilet and the bathtub. On the other side of the bathroom counter was a door leading into a large, empty closet.

Now the kitchen was a simple looking kitchen with a long island in the middle of the room. This island had the kitchen sink, a coffee maker, and a microwave. For someone washing their hands, their back would be towards the silver stove and oven set, which had two counters on either side of them. On the other side of the island was a simple maple table that stretched out into an oval shape which fit six people. Next to the stove counters was a sliding glass door that opened into the back patio. The patio was covered by a canopy and had one stone table in the middle of the square patio. Two either side of the glass door sat two wooden chairs, one rocking, and one four legged chair. This patio overlooked the very forest of trees that surrounded the house on all sides and led out to the large lake.

It was clear, though, that Jessica preferred the simpler life. She was the last person to take advantage of money and live in a giant Victorian mansion. To be honest, she hated Victorian mansions and giant homes.

Once Spencer and the others saw this house, they were stunned into silence. It may not be something that _had_ to be owned by someone with a lot of money, someone from a middle class family could own it, but it still looked wealthy. Carly loved her bedroom and was thrilled that Blake was just down the hall from her. Spencer and Sasha definitely claimed the upstairs bedroom, they loved that there was actually a nice gaming console right up there in front of the television.

It was a pity that this was only temporary, at least until Spencer was able to buy his own house. It would probably be within a year or two.

"Well," Spencer said as he stood before his new bed. Sasha was lying down on the bed and rolling from side to side, getting comfortable. "I think Michael, Uncle Ken and I are going to help move things into the house. What are you going to do?"

"Attempt to not fall asleep," Sasha replied. She sat up and looked over as Jessica walked into the room. Jessica put her hand to the doorframe and smiled at the two.

"Mom, Regina and I are about to start cooking dinner if you'd like to help, Sasha. You can sleep if you want, though. We're making cube steak parmesan with chicken puffs and honey-glazed fries." She could see both Spencer and Sasha starting to water at the mouth, just imagining the meal, and smiled happily at the reaction. Sasha immediately moved from the bed and met her eyes with a wide grin.

"I want to help."

"Okay, come with me. I think Carly's gone to nap for a little bit herself. Blake's in the living room with mom, they're cuddled up on the couch." The toddler _definitely_ was enjoying the attention. "So while the guys are unpacking, let's go rally up the troops and get dinner started."

"You have a very beautiful house, Ms. Carlson." Jessica blushed and hugged Sasha, grateful for the compliment.

"Thank you, and you can call me Jessie if you'd like."

"Okay." They made their way down the stairs and stopped to see Rebecca snoring on the couch in front of the fireplace. Blake was lying down on his back, his head was in her lap and his feet were on the other side of the couch. It was such an adorable sight, so perhaps, it was better not to wake them. Jessica glanced back as Sasha kissed Spencer's cheek and whispered into his ear. "This definitely feels like home."

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><p>What a sweet chapter, don't you agree? Hope you liked it. <strong><br>**


	41. Moment of Relaxation

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 41 (Moment of Relaxation)<p>

After dinner, Travis, Ken, and Michael managed to get Spencer on the boat to fish. Carly was on the shore with Jessica and Sasha, being taught about fishing _there_. Spencer couldn't _believe_ how this moment matched the fantasy he'd had before. He watched the departing shore with a smile as the wind blew his hair back. The salty water carried a marvelous scent into the wind, and with the fullness of his stomach after the meal, he didn't think he could feel any better.

Ken was at the wheel of the boat while Travis stood behind him, Michael was manning the motor, while Spencer held onto four fishing rods. There had been a number of fishing rods in the house, as Ken had a tendency to lose the rods when he came to visit his sister. In his defense, he blamed the giant fish for being so damn difficult. Needless to say, after the earlier debacle, they weren't too sure they wanted to be placing another fishing rod in his hands.

Spencer heard Travis talking to Ken about the steering and location, he wanted to get right in the middle of this lake. For Spencer, he could hardly see the family on the shore, they were so far into the distance. Travis cleared his throat and Spencer turned his eyes over his shoulder. He watched his grandfather wave his hand in the air, giving out an order. "Drop the anchor, boy!" Michael rolled his eyes and laughed while flipping off the motor.

"It's a _motor_, gramps, not an anchor."

"Same difference. This is the perfect location! Now, to enlighten Spencer to a real sport. Fishing." Spencer lifted his eyebrows as the three men grabbed their fishing rods from him. He turned to his grandfather and smiled wryly, unsure of what to say. "Now you know, none of us live at this house anymore except your mother, but we do constantly come out to this lake, it is and has always been a place of relaxation for this family, and now we're going to get _you_ relaxed."

"Fishing doesn't have to be boring," Michael said while grabbing some bait from the bait box next to the motor. "The trick is, whether you get a bite or not, you just let your worries slip away from you. Have you ever been fishing before?"

"Since I was a kid? No." He shook his head at his cousin and stared at the black fishing rod in his hand. He knew the basics, but that was about it. No one ever took him fishing, no one showed him the ropes. Sure, they did when he was just a child visiting his grandparents here, but that was years ago! "I think I remember some stuff, but it's passed me by."

"Well have a seat, dad and Gramps will teach you all you need to know." There were four benches in the back of the motor boat, just enough for the four men to sit. Spencer was on the back right, Michael was on the back left, Travis sat on the front right, and Ken moved to the front left. Travis pointed over Spencer at the box of bait.

"Hand me some bait, would you?"

"Sure Grandpa." Spencer reached over and grabbed two pieces of bait, one for him and one for Travis. Travis thanked him and hooked the bait, Spencer watched and followed his example. "Now I just cast the line like this, right?" He lifted the rod and flung it forward, watching as the hook sailed through the warm air and landed in the water. Travis beamed with pride and pat his back.

"I think you're lying, you seem to have fishing down already!" The two men laughed for the moment. Ken reached over and rubbed his shoulder.

"It's like riding a bike, Spencer. You never forget. Now that you cast your line, just take a deep breath and relax. You're tense enough as is." He quickly nodded and shut his eyes, inhaling slow and deep. He held on to that breath for a few seconds, sucking back all that tension, all the stress of everything that had been going on, then releasing it all with one long exhale. His muscles relaxed and his shoulders fell.

The men were right, fishing was not about whether or not the fish were biting and you caught any, although it was nice to compete to see who could catch the most during the day, the sport was all about _relaxation._ That was exactly what he was going to do. He could cast all his worries away, and tonight would be the first night that he and Sasha could sleep together in _complete rest_.

He listened as the water rippled beneath him and beat against the sides of the boat. The waves swirled as fish shot through them. The pink and orange clouds in the sky painted a beautiful picture framed by green trees, while the sunset turned the water into a sea of soothing honey. No one spoke, for what seemed the longest time. No words were needed in this moment, as all the men let the stress roll off of their shoulders, free from the worry of an uncertain future.

After a good half hour, Spencer gazed up at the sky, half-lidded and in a state of total relaxation. They'd caught a few fish, tossed them back into the water as they did, and continued on about the fishing. He was truly seeing how this kept everyone alive. "Do you think…the women are still fishing by the shore?" He asked with a soft voice, no longer speaking in a rushed, hurried tone.

The women decided not to subject Carly and Sasha to the boat yet, especially since the men vied for it. Travis lifted his shoulders and glanced over to his grandson with a subtle smile. "Probably. Who knows, there are so many more things to do at this lake than simply fishing. I reckon they'll be lounging around whenever we get back."

"You know something, Spence?" Michael reeled in his line and Spencer turned back to him. He watched his cousin remove a fish from the hook and toss it back in. "I'm really glad you decided to come down here. Not just because we missed you, and yes it really took a toll on Aunt Jessica more than any of us…" Spencer's heart sank a bit, the guilt of putting his mom through that Hell still remained, and it probably would stay there for a while. "But more than that, you came here because you knew it was best for your family, what they wanted, what they needed…and I really admire you for that."

"It's almost a true test of a man's character," Ken added with a glance from the corner of his eyes. Spencer's lips curved up and his heart started to rise. "We're all proud of you for coming down here, for willing to accept help to get on your feet so you can take care of your family."

"A fiancé, a child, a baby on the way…it's difficult, Uncle Ken. I couldn't possibly do it alone…" He gazed out at his line and closed his eyes, remembering what Socko had been telling him. "All along, my best friend had been telling me the same thing all of you were saying, and I just wasn't listening. I'm sorry." The three men looked at him and all reached over to pat his shoulder. He felt a deep sorrow for putting his family through the misery that he did, and he knew it wasn't fair. "I should have come down here from day one, I shouldn't have let it come so far. To think, if it wasn't for Grandpa going up there when he did, we'd be in worse shape. Then Michael, you helped out tremendously with Nevel…"

"Now it's your mother's turn to shine," Travis commented. Spence raised an eyebrow as Travis reeled in his line. A fish had been on it, but it freed itself. He put on some new bait, then cast out his line. "We've compiled a lot of evidence against your father, and that judge. Bribery is a serious offense, and she intends to get him before she gets her. Or you…"

"What do you mean?" He knew his dad still threatened Jessica and her family, but he didn't know how serious anything was. Once the man realized that he just hightailed it to Florida with Carly, he'd get severely pissed. "What more can Dad do?"

"He could do the same thing to you that he did to your mother. You wonder why he would keep a check on your finances? Since he still had legal authority over you and Carly, and you had a child out of wedlock…a man of his status and power could easily try to claim you're unfit to parent…" Spencer's lips parted, then shut, he had no argument to this. His father was just that much of an asshole, and he knew it.

"I wouldn't let him do that."

"That's exactly what your mother said about you and Carly, until he bribed that judge." Spencer's head shot up and the bile rose in his throat. Even as relaxed as he was, the thought of what his father had done still angered him greatly. "Your Aunt Regina is acting as your mother's lawyer here, and they've built a strong case against your father. We don't know the full details, but your mother and Regina have already sent a letter out to Robert's superiors in the military."

"So they want to get him down to level before they fully charge him?"

"Yes. In the last month or two, he's actually been sending all of us emails and phone calls-all of which we've saved-threatening us if we pursue…he's gotten reprimanded by his superiors and they have asked that we compile any serious threats that he's sent out, along with proof of the bribery, and then he will be charged."

"I won't have to worry about any of this?" He hoped not, he really hoped that his Mom and Aunt could solve the problem before it affected him in any way. Travis gave him a reassuring smile, confirming that he wouldn't need to worry about a thing. Which was great, all he had to worry about was getting a job and trying to help raise his family. "And even if there was an issue, once I have a job and income…and get married to Sasha…there's nothing he can do to try and say we're bad parents."

"Exactly, now put this out of your mind for the moment, and relax. Tomorrow begins a new day." Spencer watched his grandfather take a breath, then turned his gaze to the water. A stroke of peace filled his soul as the wind scraped the water, forming tiny ripples. He could definitely get used to this, no worries at all. At least he wouldn't have to stress out, and tomorrow, he would meet the manager of that museum for the first time.

"Things are really beginning to look up."

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><p>What a soothing day it was. What did you guys think?<p> 


	42. Unwilling Wingman

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 42 (Unwilling Wingman)<p>

"So why exactly are we at a bar?" Spencer asked as he and Michael drove up to the _Tallahassee Bar and Grill_. He felt a sense of déjà vu, asking the question, but shrugged it off. He knew it was reminiscent of what Sasha asked when he took her to the bar and proposed, but he didn't know what his cousin wanted. He glanced over as Michael parked the car and lifted up his index and middle fingers, grinning widely.

"One, I've always wanted to sit down and have a beer with you. Or at least, since turning 21." Michael put the switch into park, then leaned back with a sigh. "Second, I come here to have a dinner once a month, and there's this cute waitress that always strikes up a conversation with me…I was hoping to ask her out…" Spencer smirked teasingly and folded his arms.

"So I've become your wingman?"

"Precisely!" He laughed and lifted his shoulders. He didn't mind having a beer with Michael, it was long overdue.

The two made their way into the bar and were led to a booth off to the side. It didn't look all that different from the bar in Seattle, except for the fact that there was no karaoke station. Spencer heard some girl call out for Michael and looked over to see a waitress hurrying over, her red pigtails flapped with each step she took. Her plump lips were in a wide grin and her eyes were bright and blue. Michael looked at her and waved his hand. "Hey Raquel." He saw another waitress nearby throw her hands into the air and storm off, apparently Raquel had just claimed the table.

"I didn't think you'd be back in so soon Mike, you were just here a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah." He chuckled and pointed his hand towards Spencer. "This is my cousin, Spencer. I was hoping to buy him a beer, he just got in town." Spencer lifted his hand and politely smiled at the woman. She didn't look as old as Michael, but no younger than twenty-six. Raquel extended her hand and shook his. Her hand was soft, but cold.

"It's good to meet you, Michael's told me a lot about you. What can I get you to drink?" He took his menu and opened it up. He was a bit unsure how to respond to this girl, she seemed nice, but a bit perky. Hell, he didn't know her, so he didn't really care, but he never pictured Michael as being interested in such _cheery_ girls.

"Good to meet you too, I hope Michael's said _good_ things." He smirked at his cousin and lifted an eyebrow when he heard the man force out a laugh. "Uh huh." He moved his eyes to the drinks and pointed down to the imports. "Guinness please." Raquel nodded and started writing on her notepad. Michael opened his menu up and glanced down the page.

"Samuel Adams for me." She wrote down his order and pushed the notepad and pen into her belt pocket.

"All right, I'll have those right out for you." Spencer watched her depart, then leaned across the table, pointing his thumb at the girl. "_That_ is the girl you're talking about? She seems too cheerful to be your type." Michael lifted his shoulders and stretched his arms out, flapping the menu briefly.

"Actually, take a look at the waiters, they're all supposed to act cheerful and happy. Although, she's a bit more personal because she and I have kind of struck up a friendship."

"So _why_ have you not asked her out yet? I hardly think you need my help to do that, she seems into you…I guess." Was it the nerves? He never thought Michael would ever be too nervous to ask a girl out, but to his shock, Michael hid behind the menu in reaction to the question. "Dear god Mike, don't tell me _you're_ not confident and cocky like always. Do you think she's going to wait forever for you to go ahead and ask her out?"

"I don't know, when it comes to women, I just…" Michael set his menu down and raised his hand up, scratching his head. "I don't have your luck, Spencer."

"My 'luck'?" Spencer's lip twitched as he held back a laugh. Was Michael referring to Sasha here? He didn't know if he could consider it _luck_. Maybe it was, but from what he saw now, they had a lot of love. It couldn't just be luck. "That's not luck, that's love, and a lot of trust. I don't even deserve half the love she has for me. You need a woman like that, someone who will stand by you even as you crash and burn."

"Man, I know that…I've been out of the dating game for so long that I don't even know if I'm ready for that long term relationship. I'm almost scared that people don't consider me datable anymore." Spencer stared at Michael for a minute, thinking silently as Raquel returned with the beers. He was trying hard not to break out laughing. How could Michael think he wasn't _datable_ anymore? Hell, Michael was _younger_ than he was!

"Okay Mike…" He smirked deviously and lifted up his fingers. Michael's eyes flicked nervously from him to Raquel. "Miss Raquel, I have a question for you." Raquel lifted her eyebrows and glanced over at him.

"Yes?"

"Spencer, what are you doing?" Michael was beginning to sweat, his hands starting to tremble. He moved his hands beneath the table and swallowed hard. Spencer was intrigued, Michael actually had zero confidence when it came to women! Was this the same man that so cooly put the fear of god in Nevel Papperman, and here he was shaking worse than a leaf?

"Raquel, would you consider Michael to be 'datable'?" Her cheeks turned red for a split second and she turned her head to him. Michael gave her a gentle smile and leaned forward, putting his hand to his forehead. Raquel tapped her lip with her pen and lifted her shoulders

"I haven't dated him or anything, so I don't know. We've had a lot of good talks, so we get along…"

"Isn't that always the first step though?" He reached for his wallet and pulled a nickel out. Michael glared at him as his lip twisted into a smirk. This may be the only way to jumpstart anything for his dear cousin. "Raquel, would you be willing to date him?" Michael's eyes widened and his hands froze upon the table. Raquel's eyebrows rose sharply and she quickly turned to Spencer.

"He hasn't said anything about that."

"Ah he's being a big chicken. Confidence is the most attractive thing you can have, I'll say that much. He does want to ask you out, and thinks I want to be his 'wingman' so to speak. So, I'm going to flip a coin here…" Michael tugged on his collar as Raquel's eyelids fell halfway. "Heads, you two can go on a date, tails, it doesn't happen-"

"Okay, hold on!" Michael interrupted, much to Spencer's pleasure. Spencer flashed him a toothy grin, hoping his trick was going to work. He wanted to force some confidence into his cousin, one way or another. Michael looked up to Raquel as she slowly folded her arms across her chest.

"Is that true, what he says?"

"Yeah, I was just too nervous to…ah hell…Would you be willing to go out with me some time?" Spencer closed his eyes and tossed his nickel back into his wallet, grinning with pride. He was pretty sure Michael wanted to strangle the living hell out of him now, but he only did it for his own good. He popped his beer and took a quick sip.

"Well I'd have to think about that…" Raquel pulled her lip to the side, humming lightly as she swayed her hip slowly to the right. Spencer raised an eyebrow and turned his head to the window, sighing with exasperation. "I mean, you come in here and we chat enough that my coworkers and boss are starting to get upset."

"So maybe it would be good to see each other outside of work?"

"Oh yes it would." Was he detecting a hint of a flirtatious tone in her voice? He squinted the side of his face and started tapping his fingers on the table. Couldn't they just get it over with? She did seem like she was attracted to him, so if she was, she could simply say that rather than lead him around. "In fact, this is Debra's table. I'm going to have to give her one of my tables."

Spencer closed his eyes and whispered for Michael. "Is she available tomorrow…ask!" Michael glanced at him, then to Raquel with a quick smile.

"Are you off work tomorrow?"

"No, I'm off."

"Oh, well that's good." Spencer lifted his head p, then dropped down, smacking his forehead with his palm. Raquel blinked momentarily and pointed at the menus, fixing to ask if they decided on any food. Before she could say anything, Michael quickly added to his statement. "So maybe you'd like to grab some dinner tomorrow?" Spencer moved his hand an inch away, staring at his palm with a shocked expression. Michael was actually getting the hang of this, so far so good. Michael cleared his throat and placed his hands on the table, looking Raquel in the eyes. "Everyone's pretty busy tomorrow, but I would be glad to take a step away from all the drama and take you out somewhere."

"Well I have been wanting to go to Applebees for a while."

"We could go there?"

"Sure! I'll just check my schedule. What time?"

"How does six work?" Raquel grinned and quickly nodded her head. Spencer lifted his eyebrows up and started reading his menu. Michael smiled at her. "Then it's date."

"I'll see you then!" Raquel looked over her shoulder and sighed. "Um, I'd better give Debra back her table before I get in trouble, actually…Oh, and Mike?" She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on his temple. "It's about damned time." Michael blushed deep as Raquel turned and walked off. Spencer gazed over his menu and snickered.

"See Mike, you've got what it takes, you just needed a little push."

"Yeah…" Michael paused and narrowed his eyes, flashing off a mischievous smirk. "But _don't_ think this means I'm not going to get you back for that little coin trick." Spencer laughed and gripped his beer.

"Yeah, I'd like to see that. I highly doubt you've retained that childhood foolishness from our younger days."

"Just wait, you may find yourself sleeping in a bed of shaving cream very soon."

"In Mom's house? Also, with _Sasha_ there? Yeah, good luck with that one." When they were younger, they'd be going at it like a pair of devils, just pranking and tricking each other until the end of time. Jessica did _not_ like that, because it usually meant things were going to wind up broken, or in a mess of some sort. Nowadays, with Sasha, it would probably be a bad idea to try the old shaving cream in the bed gag. "Dude, Sasha would _so_ have your head."

"Maybe, but at least I'd die with the satisfaction that I got you back." The two started laughing as the waitress started moving towards the table. Spencer couldn't deny that this was one of the best times he'd had in such a long time.

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><p>Got to love cousin Mike.<p> 


	43. Getting the Job

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 43 (Getting the Job)<p>

The next morning, Spencer woke to the sun shining in on his face. Sasha was being spooned in his arms, her hair smelled sweet, like lilac. He breathed in and slowly ran his fingers along her smooth, milky white skin. She swayed her body forward, then back against him. She opened her eyes and rolled onto her back, gazing up into his eyes as he curved upwards, gazing down upon her. "Good morning," She whispered to him. Her voice, sweet as honey, and soft as her silky purple gown.

"Hey baby…" He groomed her hair back and leaned down, kissing her lips tenderly. As he lifted upwards, she moved with his lips, then moved back onto the pillow. He moved his eyes from her lips to her eyes. Her breath flowed against his face, enriching him and filling him full of life. "How did you sleep?" Her chest rose and fell with a soft sigh. He felt her arms slowly brush against him as she moved her hands to the back of her head.

"It was the best sleep I've ever had, and better yet, you were with me." She arched her body upwards as she did her usual morning stretch. He slid his arm around her stomach and continued to gaze into her eyes.

"I wish I could hold onto you all day." Could there truly be anything wrong with just laying in each other's arms for the rest of the day? He didn't think so. She huffed and smiled as she moved her finger and tapped his lips. He breathed softly as he kissed her finger.

"You can't miss your interview with Mr. Johnson down at the museum." There was that one extremely good reason _not_ to be lazy today. His mom was taking Carly to the Jamaican shop for her job interview, so he could have his car for the day. "But if I had my way, I'd lay with you all day long…Just us together, nothing else."

"I would love that. Maybe when we're not worrying about so many things, and there's a day we're not busy, we can do that." It was the small things that really mattered in a relationship, and cuddling was definitely among those things. "What if I told you by this time next year, I could see us living in our own home?"

"I can see it happening. Maybe not within a year, but I can see it."

"That a challenge? You don't think I can do it, do you?" He smirked at her and she gradually placed a gentle hand to his cheek. She reached up, giving him a chaste peck upon the lips. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his.

"I know you can do it. I don't doubt you at all." Her arms slid around his neck and her cheeks started to grow pink."I think…it may be a good idea for you to get dressed now, and get down to the museum, and get that job."

"Right." He couldn't let himself get distracted now. After all, it was this beauty that he wanted to satisfy. This one, and the two children she'd blessed him with. "I just want to get it off my chest, how beautiful you are." Her sweet smile grew and she slowly shook her head.

"I have bed hair and I haven't even taken a shower yet."

"So?" He smoothed his hand through her hair, slowly and softly. "You don't have to be all dollied up to be beautiful, appearances aren't _everything_. You know, I don't think I could have gotten through all of this without you. I need you in my life. I do."

"Same…" She cuddled close to his chest and closed her eyes, sighing with contentment. "When do you have to be at the museum?"

"Noontime. It's only nine right now."

"So…maybe we can cuddle for just a few minutes." He wrapped his arms around her and lay beside her. His gaze moved to the window for a brief moment while the wind outside led the tree branches to brush against it. His eyes gradually returned to Sasha's serene expression, a strand of her hair had fallen against the bridge of her nose. He swept it away with his fingers, then rested his arm around her body.

Hours later, after he'd gotten dressed up and Sasha wished him the best of luck, he hurried on towards the museum. He was in a blue dress shirt, silver and black striped tie, and black slacks. He had high hopes, and his mom seemed certain that this place would hire him. The manager only wanted to interview him, to at least make it appropriate and fair. Apparently there was truth to the idea of knowing someone in order to get a job

When he entered the museum, he was intrigued by the walls covered with artwork both current and ages old. In the center of the front area, surrounded by staircases on either side arching up to the second floor, was a large sculpture of a Greek God. He wanted to explore, but knew it was better to remain on the task at hand. He wasn't there to entertain himself, he was there to get a job as the museum security guard.

To his right, he saw a short and stocky bald headed man with glasses making his way over to him, the man had a thick brown mustache and thin glasses that rested on his large nose. He smiled at Spencer and extended his hand. "You must be Spencer Shay, I presume? I'm Walter Johnson, the curator here at the museum."

"Hi, you've got the right person." He smiled back and shook the man's hand with a firm grip. The man's handshake was almost like shaking a cold fish, but he paid no mind to the icy grip. "I'm here about the security job."

"Yes, right this way." He followed Walter through a few rooms filled with various paintings and statues, all intriguing him even further. He caught Walter eyeing him, and smiled politely. "Your mother told me quite a bit about you, Mr. Shay. I must say, I'm excited to have such an art enthusiast on my team here at the museum. As you can see, we pride ourselves in having artwork from the present times all the way back to ancient days"

"Amazing. Did Mom mention how 'desperate' I am for the job?" He chuckled nervously and waited as Walter let out a hearty chuckle.

"Why yes, I understand that you have a fiancé and a son to take care of?"

"Yes sir."

"Here at the museum, we offer _all_ employees a chance at growth in the career field. If you do your work well, you'll get raises and whatnot. You do get benefits, health insurance and 401K…we do offer you the opportunity to broaden your horizons with college, we are in conjunction with TCC of course." Spencer felt his heart leap to his throat. He was already impressed, and surely this man had just started talking! "Now, I understand you have a degree in criminal justice?"

"Yes sir. Art is a hobby, a passion of mine, and that's why I'm interested in working here."

"That degree will earn you a higher wage than most guards, _and _I am happy to hear that you do enjoy artwork so much. That tells me you will care about your job."

"Yes sir." There was absolutely no doubt he would care about the job. They made it into Walter's office and took a seat at the long brown desk. There were several papers strewn about. Walter pressed his fingertips together and leaned forward. "I said I'd interview you for the job, however, I would like to skip to the job offer. There's no doubt in my mind that you are qualified, but first…you need to be able to carry a gun license. I would like to start you on immediately, this coming Monday, but you will need a license."

"I can get that." Wherever the nearest shooting range was, he would head there as soon as possible. "I will do whatever is necessary for this job." Walter smiled and slowly nodded his head.

"Good to hear, Mr. Shay. I've set up for you to be given a tour of the facility, you can do that once you're done with all the paperwork. After that, I'll send you to the nearest shooting range for that license, you can return here, and we can further discuss your schedule. First, however, I'd like to go over the details of the job…"

After going through the interview, the paperwork, and the tour, Spencer found himself standing before a distant target in a shooting gallery. In his hand was a semi=automatic pistol. Beside him was a tough looking man with a tattoo on his upper arm and a handlebar mustache. "Have you ever shot a gun before?" The man asked while crossing his arms.

"Once, and that was when I was a child. It was a BB gun." He'd not fired a _real_ gun before. He stared down at the pistol in his hand and took a deep breath, he was almost scared to fire it. He didn't dislike guns, he knew they were necessary, especially if he ever had to use one to protect his family. He would do it in a heartbeat. The man already explained everything he could, so this was just a test to see how well he could fire. If he could make eighty percent of the shots within range, he would be granted the license.

He closed his left eye and lifted his arms, holding the gun with both hands, and pointed it towards the target, twenty feet away. It ran in his mind, if he needed to use a gun to protect his family, could he manage to take a life, if he had to? As his eyes bore down onto the target, he imagined his dear old dad, beating on his mother.

_One shot fired_

Next, he imagined his father, yanking him and taking Carly away from Jessica.

_Two shots fired_

When he imagined all that his father had done in the recent months, and imagined the things his father could try to do to Sasha, to Blake and that unborn child, he narrowed his eyes and smoothed his finger on that trigger. He fired off several consecutive rounds, until the man lifted his hand to declare the test complete.

Most of the shots had been centered around the chest dot, one was in the neck, and two were off on the side. It was enough for him to be granted a license, as well as a pistol for protection. He'd talked to Sasha about it over the phone before, she hadn't been _happy_ about the idea of having a gun around, but she was okay with it for protection purposes.

When he returned to the museum, he proudly showed Walter his gun license. "When can I start, Mr. Johnson?" Walter rose from his office chair and smiled at him.

"As I said, you can start on Monday. You'll be working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday for now. Your starting salary is eleven dollars and fifty cents. I want you to start coming in at eight in the morning, which is when we open our doors, and you will work until eight in the evening." Twelve hour workdays, four days in a week, it seemed rough to be away from Sasha and the family that much, but it was what was needed to take care of them. "Keep in mind, I can be flexible with the scheduling if need be, just don't be afraid to discuss whatever questions you have."

"I understand sir."

"Good, you will be trained by our lead guard for your first two weeks on duty. It's good to have you as an addition to the team, Spencer."

"I appreciate this, thank you so much." He shook his new boss's hand and felt a sense of satisfaction and pride welling up deep inside. He _finally_ had a job! He could finally take care of his family. One step at a time, yes, but it was still a job and he was thrilled! To think, all he had to do was tell his mother he would be willing to accept help, and then the family landed him a good job.

When he returned home, he was full of eagerness and anticipation, awaiting Sasha's reaction. She met him in the living room, where she'd been reading a book while Blake ran about the place. She rose to meet him and smiled. "How did it go today, Spencer?" He grinned and extended his arms, moving towards her.

"You're looking at a working man that can support his family, Sasha."

"You mean you got the job?" She gasped and quickly rushed over to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "I'm so happy for you! When do you start?"

"Monday. Things are getting better, Sasha. They really are."

"I know. You never cease to amaze me." She kissed his lips and he pulled her into a tight embrace. If this was part of his reward for a job well done, he would gladly accept it. Nothing could tear him down from this high.

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><p>Well hopefully you enjoyed it. <strong><br>**


	44. New School

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

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><p>Chapter 44 (New School)<p>

Carly cheered her brother on Monday morning as they sat with Jessica at the breakfast table. Jessica made pancakes and waffles for everyone. At the table sat Spencer, dressed in his uniform, Sasha, Blake, and Jessica. "Are you looking forward to your first day, Spencer?" She asked while forking her plate of waffles. She had a stack of four waffles that were bathed in syrup. Spencer was eating pancakes. He took a bite of his food and swallowed it, practically inhaling it.

"Yes. It's going to be a long first day, but it'll be worth it." She pushed her fork through the syrup on her plate and lifted it, watching as the syrup flowed slowly onto the plate. "What about you, Carly?" She hummed and looked up to him with. "You're starting at Richards High School today, are you excited?" She moved her eyes to her plate, forking the next bite of waffle and exhaling. She only had to appear for this one week to get situated and whatnot, since Christmas break _was_ next week.

The true schedule was a bit tricky to maneuver this week, but the people at the school wanted to see where she was. She'd not taken her finals at all from Ridgeway, so she'd take them with the other classes this week at Richards. Today and tomorrow, the 19th and 20th, were finals days. The teachers had been in correspondence with the teachers of Ridgeway, so here they would be administering Carly's finals with the subjects she was in, and as close as they could get to the subject material she was taught. Then on the 21st, the school let each of their classrooms have a bit of an 'end of year' party, to where they had snacks and movies on the last day. Then the Christmas season began from the 22nd, and school began again on January 5th.

During this first week, Carly would actually be with the teachers she'd have _next_ semester. "Excited, nervous, frightened, what can I say? I'm starting a new school, immediately taking the tests I should have taken at Ridgeway, and then taking the break…" It wasn't that she didn't want to, she was only a bit scared. Hell, new things, changes, she was afraid she couldn't get used to it. "I've got my new job, I've got a new school, and now I need a new life…"

She was a bit sick for Seattle and her friends, but she was doing all she could to make the best of the situation. She was eternally grateful to be with her mom, to be _here_, but just once she wanted to see her friends and be hanging with them again. Things were going to be changing constantly, she could tell. Hell, eventually Spencer, Sasha, and Blake would have their own place and she wouldn't be living with them anymore. She'd get used to all of this change eventually, she was certain of that.

"Have you talked to Sam yet?" Sasha asked. Her eyebrows lifted and Carly slowly glanced towards the side. She called them when they got home, but that was it. She wasn't used to the time change, they were three hours ahead of everyone in Seattle. Now, it was almost eight, and in Seattle, it was almost five. "You should call them today, tell them what's going on."

She took the final bite of her breakfast and stared down with an empty expression at the swirl of syrup on her plate. "I wouldn't want to be a burden…" What could she tell her friends? They were all busy with their own life, so she didn't feel like intruding. "They have so much going on right now, and I don't even know when I'd get to call them. After school I…" She pulled her lips back and hummed, thinking of her schedule for the day. She didn't have to go into work until five, she got out of school a little after two. Her schedule back at Ridgeway would remain similar here, as a senior, she had her final period off. "Well, I don't have homework obviously, but even when I go into work at five, it would be two for Sam and the others."

"Didn't they have the final period off too?" Jessica pondered. Carly rose from the table and carried her plate to the sink. She turned on the water and ran the plate beneath it for a few seconds.

"Yeah, so maybe they'd be out by then."

"So why not call them today? They might be wondering what's going on." Mom had a good thought, and even still, she wanted to use the school's library to get onto Facebook and see if her friends were on there. She actually _didn't _have a Facebook account. Sam always bugged her about getting one, but she'd been too afraid to do it. "You don't want to give them the wrong impression."

"Yeah, I don't want to do that." There was no way in hell she wanted to make her friends think she was moving on from them. She'd do everything she could to make sure they knew that she still cared about them. "So…" She shut off the water and turned to the others, putting her hands to her hips. "How are we going to do the whole driving thing? Because I know Sasha's going to speak with some advisors at TCC today."

"I'll drive you and Sasha." Spencer was taking the Sedan to work, so that left Jessica to drop Carly off at school and come home. Sasha wasn't going over to TCC until about ten or eleven. "Mom is coming over to watch Blake when I take Sasha over to TCC." Carly's eyebrows rose and Spencer smirked at his fiancé.

"Impressive!" Carly clapped once and caught Sasha glancing up at her with curiosity. "You're actually going to let someone else watch over Blake?" Sasha opened her mouth and closed it, lifted her fork up and closed her eyes.

"I _trust_ Granny Rebecca. Besides, Blake loves his great grandma-don't you Blake?" Sasha looked to her son, baby talking him for a second. Blake laughed and clapped his hands on the high chair. Carly folded her arms and smiled at the two, she had nothing but love for this family. Thank god for them.

"We've got a busy day today…"

"Yeah, everyone's going to be working hard." Sasha looked over at the clock and gently nudged Spencer's arm. "Spencer! You're going to be late!" It was close to eight, and Spencer needed to get to the museum as soon as possible! He looked up and yelped. Carly rushed over and grabbed his plate for him. The others stood and started to say their goodbyes to Spencer for his first day of work. Sasha hugged him and pecked his cheek. "You're going to have a great day, I'm sure of it."

Jessica moved over to him and hugged him. "I wish I had time to grab my camera and snap a picture. My baby boy's growing up." Spencer blushed and Sasha smirked. "Adorable."

"Aw mom!" He cried out. "Not in front of Sasha." Carly laughed and he shot a glare at her. He paused and exhaled, smiling at them. "Thanks. I hope you all have a great day too." He hugged Jessica and Carly, then gave Sasha a quick peck on the lips.

Several minutes later, after all the goodbyes, Carly sat anxiously in her mother's car. They were against the curb of the large high school. She caught Jessica's tearful smile and smiled back as her mom reached over and caressed her cheek. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie." For a moment, she'd wondered why her mom was emotional, but she did remind herself that this was the first time her mom ever got to drive her to school. Her heart lifted and her eyes began to water. "You've grown up so much, Carly. I can't believe you're going to be graduating high school in a few months."

"Don't cry, Mommy. I won't leave right when I graduate." She reached over and hugged her close. She sighed as her mom's warmth flowed into her. She would never forget the feeling of being in her mother's arms, nor would she ever tire of being there. Her one and only memory of her mother, all of her dreams and fantasies, they all fell short of this moment right here. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too." Jessica sniffed and brushed away a tear. "Now you go and have a great day of school. I'm going to try and stop bawling here." Carly chuckled and squeezed her mom tighter, never wanting to let go. Jessica hugged her tight and closed her eyes. "You can't stay here all day, you'll miss all your classes."

"I don't care. I mean, I do, but I…"

"I'll still be here when school ends." She took a deep breath and looked up to her mom's eyes. Jessica was smiling as much as she could through her tears. Carly didn't want to lose her mom, but was she so afraid of losing her? Her dad couldn't do anything to her, could he? No, of course not. She wiped her eyes and grabbed her backpack strap.

"Do you think the people here will know who I am? The kids, I mean…"

"Maybe, but maybe not, I'm sure there are a few here who were fans of iCarly."

"Yeah. Maybe so. Do you think I should make a Facebook account to keep up with Sam and everyone back in Seattle?" Jessica started grooming the back of her hair, she closed her eyes and sighed at the gentle touch.

"If you want to, but be careful." There was still the risk of her dad finding her Facebook, and with his status in the military, who knew how much he could hack into that. It would be a risky move, but she _had_ to keep in touch with her friends somehow. "Now go enjoy your first day, I'll be here to pick you up."

"Okay Mom. I'll see you later." She gave her one last hug, then hopped out of the car. Walking to the front doors, she could feel her mom watching her. As she opened the door, she glanced back and smiled at her mom. Jessica waved at her, she waved back, then stepped inside.

Her first plan was to find the main office and go from there. To her right was the front office, so there wasn't an issue. She walked in and saw the front desk was empty. Disheartened, she looked around to see if there was anyone that could be of any help.

There was a girl nearby, working from some notebook. She had long, wavy brown hair that fell in front of her face as she wrote in the book. The girl was wearing a brown T-shirt and long black jeans. "Hey, I was wondering if you might know where I need to go…" The girl stopped writing and looked up to her. Carly glanced hopefully into the girl's warm chocolate eyes. "I'm Carly, by the way…"

"I'm Jeannie, it's nice to meet you." Jeannie stood from the seat and walked over to her, rubbing her dimpled chin and freckled cheeks. "You're new?"

"Yeah…I'm a transfer from Seattle, they want me to take the finals here, since I didn't take them up there. It's complex…" Jeannie shook her head and sighed.

"Interesting that they'd do that, but okay, you'll need to go to the counseling center. We have four counselors, advisors, who help with all that coursework stuff. What's your last name? That'll determine who you have to talk to."

"Shay." Although she was considering a name change, but wasn't sure how necessary it was. She pondered how _Carly Carlson_ sounded, and wondered if it was truly important to change her name just because her father was a prick. Spencer wasn't going to change his name, since he'd rather just avoid the confusion and hassle in the first place

Jeannie started snapping her fingers thoughtfully, then turned around waving for her to follow. "You're going to be talking to Mrs. Cox. Anyway, the front desk lady's in the bathroom, you don't have to worry about talking to her."

"Okay." She held her wrists behind her back and followed Jeannie down a long hallway. She was a little nervous, but managing to keep her nerves down. She did remember hearing about Mrs. Cox over the phone, so that was the right advisor.

"Do you know the teachers you're going to have after break?"

"I think I'll find that out from Mrs. Cox…" She didn't have many classes left to take. In regards to her classes, she knew she had Government, but didn't know what teacher she had. Of course, she was in her final half of English. All her science credits and everything else had been finished off in her junior year, so she'd been taking Theatre and had been on the school Newspaper. "I know I'll have to take Government, English 4B, Theater, and then I was on the newspaper at my old school, so I'm hoping to be able to get on that here…"

"Oh cool, I'm on the newspaper."

"You are?"

"Yep. Editor." Jeannie beamed with pride and Carly's eyebrows rose. She smiled as the girl led her into the counseling office and pointed to a closed door next to a window. Inside, she could see a woman with feathery brown hair talking to a student. "So that's Mrs. Cox, I guess you'll have to wait just a bit…but anyway, there's only one newspaper teacher here, and that is Mrs. Weiss. There are two theater teachers, Mrs. Fries and Mrs. Wickerham…hope for Mrs. Fries."

"Why?"

"She's the fun one and knows a lot about theater." She would have to keep that in mind. She didn't want to be an actor or anything, theatre was just a fun class to take. Though, having seen her mom's family in action, she was developing a taste for politics. "Government has two or three teachers to choose from, and there's a number of English teachers."

"All right." The door opened up and the student inside Mrs. Cox's office left. Carly grinned as the woman glanced up at her. "Thanks Jeannie."

"No problem. Maybe we'll meet up again. If you need anyone to show you around the school, I'm a library aide just before my lunch break. Or, if you get on the newspaper, we'll have a class together anyway."

"Looking forward to it." Jeannie waved and hurried off. She watched with a somewhat wistful gaze, it was nice to have already met someone at the place. She removed her backpack strap and walked into the counselor's office. "Hi, I'm Carly Shay, the transfer student from Seattle."

"Oh! Nice to see you, I was just looking at your file a little earlier." Carly smiled hopefully as Mrs. Cox opened her file cabinet and pulled out a manila folder. "We received all your transcripts and records from Ridgeway and you're passing all your classes. Of course, I'm going to send you to the teachers you'll be having when you come back from Christmas break, and they'll be administering your first term finals while the other students take their own finals. Does that sound good?"

"Yes ma'am." She took a seat in the soft leather chair and leaned back, heaving forth a heavy sigh. "I just need to get past my nervousness, then I'll be all right."

"Oh you'll be just fine, everyone here is friendly. Now…" The woman opened up the folder to reveal a bunch of paperwork. On the top was a class schedule. Carly eyed it as the counselor turned it towards her and pointed with her pen. "This is your class schedule that you'll be following. Your first class is English with Mrs. Sparks. Your second class is the Newspaper with Mrs. Weiss. Third period you have Government with Mr. Sylvester, and finally Theater with Mrs. Fries."

"Mrs. Fries? Someone just told me about her, said she's really fun."

"She's nice, you're going to like her class. Actually each of these teachers are fun, and extremely knowledgeable about the subjects." Carly's smile grew wider as she pulled the schedule from her desk. Her heart started leaping for joy. She was _definitely_ going to enjoy it here!

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><p>Yes in a rash I'm going to update the remaining fivesix chapters left of this story. Please enjoy.


	45. New Friends, Old Friends

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 45 (New Friends, Old Friends)<p>

During her lunch break, Carly and Jeannie were in the school computer lab, which was within the library. She'd been excited to see her in the Newspaper class, and had a great time being introduced to the teachers. Mrs. Sparks, Mrs. Weiss, and Mr. Sylvester were all _awesome_. Of course, third period with Mr. Sylvester was a bit longer, due to the lunch breaks taking place in third period.

Jeannie was here, showing her all the privacy settings that Facebook had to offer, one of which that Carly truly enjoyed was being able to hide herself from _anyone_. Which meant, her father could not search her name and find her on Facebook, nor could he find where she was. Though, she figured he might already know _that_, especially after being unable to locate Spencer's computer. Either way, after creating her initial profile, she found herself staring at a completely blank page, with no idea what to do. "Do you think I should add my location? As for a picture…I do have some photos of me on my flash drive."

"You can add them whenever, but I don't think you should add your location until you're sure that you'd be comfortable with that." She'd already explained to Jeannie just how bad her father was, and how scared she was that he might come find them. "The thing is, you've pretty much completely locked up your profile. Only friends you add and allow would be able to see _any_ information on your page. So, I don't think there'd be a _big_ issue." She nodded and looked to the search bar at the top of the webpage. "Now, you think your friends have accounts here?"

"Maybe, I know Sam was always bugging me to get a Facebook." She started typing out Sam's name and smiled when she saw a picture of her friend pop up as one of the top three names found. "There she is!" She clicked Sam's profile and hummed as she saw a lock on the main page, her profile was private and not viewable by anyone that wasn't a friend. "Now where do I add her on this thing…" She moved her mouse over to the 'add friend' button, then clicked it. "So what now?"

"You wait for her to accept it." Jeannie started typing on the computer next to Carly's. "Okay look up Jeannie Anderson, that's me." Carly typed her name and found her profile, then happily clicked the 'add friend' button.

"Found you." There had been a few other people with the same name, but Jeannie had a photo up. At the bottom left corner, she received a notification that Jeannie accepted her friend request. "Cool." She started typing out her friends in Seattle. She found Freddie, Gibby, who had been difficult to find, Mrs. Puckett, and even Marissa had an account! She was happily searching for anyone she knew from the Seattle region. "I don't know anyone here yet…"

"Oh trust me, you will." Jeannie laughed once and pat her shoulder. She was right, she'd already met a few good people who were happy to chat with her. The people here were a lot friendlier than the kids at Ridgeway. Thinking on that subject, her hands fell limp and she moved them away from her keyboard, sighing as she eyed the profile of someone from her old school. Jeannie frowned and met her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking…the people at my old school were judgmental jackasses." Going through all the pain and trouble, the kids at that school had eventually caught wind that she'd instantly become poor again. When this happened, they gave her hell for it, tormenting her on a daily basis. It happened so much that Sam, Gibby, and Freddie nearly got suspended due to getting into fights over the issue. "I wonder…if I really shouldn't put everything there behind me. Except my good friends, of course."

"That's a good idea, I mean, the only people there that matter to you are Sam, Freddie, and Gibby, right? If you have any other friends, go ahead and add them. Seattle was still a part of your life, whether or not there was anything good or bad about it."

"That's just it, people stopped being my friend when iCarly ended. I was a nobody before and I was a nobody when it ended. I almost wonder what would happen if I told people here who my family is."

"I wouldn't bother with the concept of fame, it kind of blocks the ability to tell who your true friends are." She knew Jeannie was already going to turn out to be a true friend, she didn't know anything about her family, nor was she a fan of iCarly. Apparently, she was one of the people who thought iCarly had been a bit childish. "Just be yourself, and don't worry about the people who aren't your friends, concentrate on the ones that _are_."

"Yeah." She flipped over to her profile and started scrolling down the info page. She had put in her likes, her interests, her school, and a brief statement in the 'about me' section. "So it'll be a while for them to accept the friend requests?"

"Well whenever they get online and get to the notification, they should be able to add you."

"Right." Freddie and Gibby hardly ever got on their Facebook accounts, she knew that much. Pam and Marissa probably never got online, so she didn't know when they'd accept her friend request. "I miss them, but you know, I think it'll be all right." She never thought she'd resort to becoming 'Facebook Friends' with Sam and the others. Wasn't that the term you used for friends fading away? Once good friends, then they become Facebook friends and you hardly ever talk to them again, until one day so much time has passed that you don't know why they're on your friends list, and the next thing that happens, they are removed from the list. To her, she always pictured Facebook as a cemetery for old friends.

She heard someone moving behind her and glanced over her shoulder towards a tall boy with shaggy black hair and tanned skin. He had a piercing emerald gaze and a pleasant smile. Jeannie grinned and quickly rose up to meet him. "Carly, this is Nat."

"Nat?"

"His parents were overzealous fans of Nat King Cole…" Carly chuckled as Nat rolled his eyes. "We call him Nate from time to time, but seriously, his middle name is King."

"It doesn't help my last name," Nate said while crossing his arms and sighing. Carly was intrigued now. She smirked and he slowly shook his head. "Colby. Nat King Colby." Nate leaned against the wall and looked to Jeannie. "All right, so Jeannie, I've been looking all over for you."

"Oh, I was helping my new friend get acquainted to the school. She wanted to make a Facebook account too, so here we are. What's up?"

"We were supposed to meet up during lunch and go over some math problems. Remember?"

"Oh! I forgot about that. You have your Algebra exam after this! Not sure how much help I can be, but yeah…Carly, would you like to study with us?" Carly grinned and quickly nodded. She was more than happy to study, if it meant making new friends. "Just don't forget to sign out of Facebook, you don't want to close the browser while still signed in, you could still be logged in."

"Right. Thanks." She logged out and closed the browser down, then rose up from the computer. She turned away with a fleeting gaze and followed Jeannie and Nate towards the back part of the library where the tables were. "So, how are your grades anyway?"

"Not the best," Nate said with a slight chuckle. "I average out B's and C's sometimes…currently got a seventy-eight in Algebra." Carly winced and Jeannie shook her head. "Jeannie's the smart one." The girl laughed and smacked Nate upside the head.

"The only thing I have an A in is English. Newspaper too, but otherwise, I'm a B student. What about you, Carly?" Carly paused for air and met their gazes. Would it be bad to say she'd been an A student? She was almost afraid to say that, granted she had some B's here and there. She didn't want to be seen as a 'dork' because of her grades. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, exhaling sharply. There wasn't any use in lying.

"I'm an A-B student."

"Oh, cool." Jeannie and Nate turned to the book and Nate started tapping it with the eraser edge of his pencil.

"So how are you at Math, then, Carly?" He gave her a hopeful and pleading look and Carly laughed, remembering how many times she'd tutored Sam back in the older days of their friendship. Sam was more knowledgeable now and her grades were actually very good, but it was still nostalgic to think about the early days when she would plead and plead for Carly to help her.

"I know a little math. I'm not the best…" She closed her eyes and felt her body shake very slightly as her mind went back to her friends. She could never replace them, she could never forget them, but what about them? Would they move on from her? Would they replace her? Would they forget her as time went on and their lives became busier? She felt a hand on her shoulder and opened her eyes, meeting Jeannie's concerned gaze. She smiled sadly and glanced over to Nate, who was studying her carefully. New friends, genuine concern. "Sorry, I was just…thinking about my friends in Seattle…" Jeannie and Nate smiled at her and slowly closed the textbook.

"You know what? I'm confident I'll do fine in my final. Let's just talk, I'd like to get to know you a bit more…"

"I agree," Jeannie stated. "Tell us about your friends." Carly waved her hand in the air and inhaled, she really didn't want to burden them with that. She didn't want to load all of that junk on them.

"I couldn't do that to you guys."

"Do what? We're not worried about anything." Jeannie lifted her shoulder and reached over, patting Carly on the arm and giving off a reassuring smile. "I know Sam, Freddie, and Gibby meant the world to you. They always will, simple as that, and no one can ever replace the greatness of true friends like those. No one should try, but allow yourself to have other friends. You can have more than one good friend." Carly smiled and looked down to the yellow and green Algebra book. She put her hands to the table and exhaled.

"I miss them…A bit afraid to make new friends, because I don't want them to think I'm trying to replace them."

"I don't think you could ever replace them, they're still here for you, and hey, I'll be here for you too if you can't talk to them."

"They wouldn't forget about me, would they?"

"If they're true friends, they won't do that. I'm sure no matter how busy their lives become, they'll always have time for you." That was what she hoped, but she knew pregnancy and college was going to be tough as hell. "Didn't you tell me earlier that you were going to call them up after school?"

"Yeah."

"So bring up your worries to them, they're your best friends for a reason. Don't let a few thousand miles come between you and them, because physical distance means nothing to good friends."

"She's got a point," Nate remarked. "When I was a kid, I had pen pal from Japan. She was my best friend, and there was an entire ocean between us." Nate tapped his chin and breathed in a wistful sigh. "She had a crappy brother who liked to read her letters, so we found a more secret way to communicate. Feelings developed, and, that was that…"

"What happened to her?" Nate thinned his lips and slowly shook his head.

"She and her brother passed away several months ago…I know their family wanted to move here, but they never did." Carly frowned and watched Jeannie pat Nate on the back. It was terrible to hear, but at least she knew if an ocean didn't keep him from that person, maybe a few thousand miles between her and her friends didn't make a difference either.

"Thank you for sharing that…I'm sorry to hear about your friend."

"Yeah…"

After school, she did talk to Sam and Freddie. They were doing well, and complaining about how quiet it was without them there in Seattle. They were missing her and thinking of her constantly. They did promise not to let the distance in between them separate them, emotionally. They assured her that they would remain her friends for as long as they could. Though new friends would come, old friends would not part. Maybe one day, she'd see them again, and until then, she'd always hold them close to her heart.

* * *

><p>There's that<strong><br>**


	46. Wedding Plans

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 46 (Wedding Plans)<p>

"So who is going to give you away in the wedding?" Jessica asked. Sasha lifted her eyes from the papers in her hand, she'd just got through talking with the advisors at the college, and was really excited about attending when the semester started up. She was thrilled about the degree plan, and was getting excited about the concept of getting her degree, though it would be about four years.

Currently they were driving around the town, just admiring all of Florida. She'd never before been so elated. She felt almost like a chatty schoolgirl, after all, her dreams were all beginning to come true. She was getting married to a fantastic man, had a great family, was beginning college, and was actually contemplating the thought of a job. Although, Jessica said she may want to consider not working and just going to school while she dealt with her pregnancy, but it was just a consideration. "I'm not sure, the Dads usually do that, don't they?"

"Yes, and you were saying that your own dad is out of your life, right?" She slowly nodded her head and glanced out of the glossy window. She would have loved to know her father, to really get to know him. Nowadays she could care less and less about the man. "I wonder that Ken or Dad wouldn't mind giving you away at the wedding. Now you said you guys were thinking of a spring wedding?"

"Yes. May 1st. About a month after my birthday. You think your brother could hand me over to Spencer? I don't really know anyone else…Carly's going to be my Maid of Honor." Jessica nodded and turned onto a street with a large body of water on the right side. Sasha gasped softly and her lips curled up at the corners. "This really is a beautiful state. Warm too." One thing that had been a total shock for her, that the temperature was in the comfortable seventies during _winter._ "You really don't get that all that much. I mean, I've never been outside Washington enough to know what it's like…First time ever really feeling _warm_, you know?"

Jessica smiled at her and reached over, rubbing her shoulder. She was talking about so much more than the physical temperature. Her blood was warm, her senses danced just as much as she wanted to dance in the sun, the birds were chirping both in her mind and outside. "I understand that. I'm really happy you're here."

"Thanks." Sasha put her chin on her closed hand and closed her eyes as Jessica rolled the window down. She smiled as the warm air breezed through her hair and against her face. "If you don't mind me asking…why didn't you ever date or get married after Robert?" She opened her eyes and looked to Jessica. The woman frowned and let her eyes fall to the steering wheel. Sasha felt a sudden pang of guilt at bringing back any painful memories. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. There are some things I don't really like to talk about. That man is…a monster. That's just putting it lightly." Sasha frowned and watched Jessica's body tremble. What exactly had that man done to her? She couldn't help but to wonder. Physical and emotional abuse was bad enough, taking away her children was the worst thing that she could ever even fathom, but did he do something else that Jessica had never bothered to say? "He doesn't deserve to be in the military, and his superiors are already stating the process of discharging him from the military. As for why I've never dated or married…I tried to date, but I just couldn't."

"Couldn't? He didn't try to keep you from seeing other people, did he?" Jessica shook her head. Her eyes started to mist and her head turned away from Sasha.

"I've only tried to date three different times. The first man I dated, he did threaten. After we split, that guy just disappeared. I don't even know what happened there." A chill ran down Sasha's spine and her heart began to sink down. "The other two men were looking for something a little more than just a relationship."

"Moving too fast…"

"Yeah…I honestly never married and gave up on dating because I just can't stand them. Being touched, being around them, I just don't trust them. I find it so hard to trust them after the things Robert put me through."

"I think you're a great person." Jessica looked over and curved her lips into a tiny smile. "Beautiful, strong, and if you met the right man, the right man would treat you right and be lucky to have you."

"If you say so." Jessica wiped her eye and took a sharp breath, exhaling slowly. "Anyway, let's talk about the wedding!" Sasha smiled at her and nodded her head, she would be glad to change the subject. She understood how difficult it was for her, as her own mother had been put through very similar troubles. Though, it was all in a different light. She did wonder if one of those deep rooted traumas was one thing that she was using, and reason for not wanting Spencer to know all the details.

"The wedding…right. I said Carly was going to be the Maid of Honor there, I don't know what to do about the bridesmaids, if I have to have any there. I don't know anyone. Spencer wants Socko as the best man, and he's at a loss as to who the groomsman should be." Sometimes they weren't even necessary in weddings, but she always wanted at least one bridesmaid whenever she got married. She didn't want to ask all of Spencer's family to participate, but hell, at the rate it was going, this was certainly what may happen.

"It's amusing to picture Spencer's friend Socko walking along that aisle with Carly." Sasha raised an eyebrow and imagined as most weddings went, the Best Man and Maid of Honor typically walked arm and arm down the aisle. Next, the Groomsmen and Bridesmaids followed. Also at most weddings, and she _had_ thought about it, but there was sometimes a dance between the Maid of Honor and Best Man. She chuckled nervously and pictured Socko dipping Carly and spinning her around.

"That's a bit of a disturbing thought, actually. Spencer had thought of asking Gibby to be a Groomsman, but being all the way in Florida, we're not sure how that would work."

"You never know. If you did that, you could always have Carly be a Bridesmaid, but then you'd have to figure out who could be the Maid of Honor." She pressed her lips together and hummed thoughtfully. Was there even a chance of there being anyone else as a Maid of Honor?

As she rubbed her chin, she thought of her life growing up. All throughout her years, she would have gone crazy if she'd been forced alongside her mother without any help whatsoever. She'd have gone insane, with there being nobody else to know or understand her plight. There _was _that one person, her childhood best friend. "Well…" When she was a kid, the strip club her mother worked at, her mom had a close friend named 'Candy', and Candy had a young daughter. The two were friends for a long time, so Sasha and Candy's daughter, Erin, spent a lot of time together. They literally grew up together, close as sisters, and it was Erin that introduced her to video game arcades. When Sasha's mother passed, Candy moved away, and Erin moved away too. "I did have a best friend for nearly twenty years. Hell, we talked about all the things that girls talk to their girlfriends about, even each other's fantasy weddings." She laughed slightly and smiled at the memory of sitting on a soot smelling bed, reading through magazines of old.

"Really? What happened to her?"

"Her mom moved away when we were twenty." Sasha smacked her lips and moved her eyes to the side. She always wondered what would happen if she could find her, but she'd put that life behind her for so long. "I think she was going to go to college somewhere, but I don't know…It's a shame, really."

"You've never looked her up?"

"I wanted to put that life behind me. I despised my mom almost as much as I despised my dad, but…I kind of see that she did everything she could…" She missed her mother, she couldn't help it. She was really starting to feel alone when it came to that woman, it was difficult to explain, but whenever she thought of the woman, she was nearly brought to tears. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened…if I saw my mother more as someone who tried her best to take care of me in a hard time, rather than someone who…ruined my life…The things I'd say to her. How disappointed she must be in me, I imagine the tears on her face in her last days, and I just…" A shiver shot through her body, her eyes dropped to her feet, and her hands started to close. "You think she'd forgive me?"

In those final moments of her mother's life, Sasha made sure she knew just how fucked up everything had become. She told her mother time and time again that it was better for her to just pass along than to sell her body the way she'd been doing, that she'd be better off without. Now, it wasn't the case so much, and her mother really had done everything possible to make sure Sasha _survived_. All the woman ever wanted to do was survive, to let her daughter survive, and that goal had been achieved.

Sasha felt _terrible_ about those days, and when it finally sank in that she could never tell her mother she wanted to take those words back, she tried to just push it all away. The more she pushed, the more the people and places surrounding her seemed to fade away. "Do you forgive her, though?" Sasha lifted her eyebrows and felt a sudden shaking inside, as her heart mourned. "Mothers care for their young, no matter what. I'm sure she knew what you were going through, and I'm sure she felt bad for putting you through that…she probably loved you more than anything."

"Yeah, she did what she could…and I guess if I had the chance to see her, I would tell her I'm sorry. A part of me loved that woman, because no matter what, she always made sure I was fed and that I had a place to sleep."

"Then, I'm sure she knows that, and I bet she'd be smiling down on you right now. I mean look at where you're at right now." Jessica smiled at her and she leaned her head back against the headrest. She breathed out and slowly closed her eyes. Her heart rose as she pictured her mother holding her in her arms.

_The seventh hotel to turn away Rachel Rodriquez and her young six-year old daughter. Sasha looked up to her mom as they sat beneath the outside roof of some abandoned shed along the highway. Rachel was gazing out at the heavy rain. The woman's large, curly black hair covered her tired face and slumped shoulders. Her shirt was soaked, and her arms revealed years of drug abuse. "Mommy, why doesn't Daddy help us?" The woman gazed down at her with a sad smile, then led her inside._

_ The shed smelled like smoke and manure_. _In the center was a haystack and a dry blanket that Rachel took from behind some house before the rain started. "You'll understand when you're older…did you enjoy your McDonalds, Sasha?" Sasha bowed her head and looked to her hand, she still had one chicken nugget left. Her mother had not eaten. She lifted her hand up and opened it, revealing the last chicken nugget. Rachel frowned and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't finish your supper?"_

_ "Please eat, Mommy. I don't want you to starve."_

_ "Mommy's not going to starve dear, please finish your supper. A growing young girl needs her food."_

_ "I don't want it Mommy, I want you to eat. I won't eat it!" Thunder roared from outside and Sasha jumped, screaming in terror. The nugget fell onto the ground and she let out a loud cry. "No!" Tears welled up in her eyes and she felt her mother pull her into a hug, whispering softly into her ear._

_ "It's okay sweetheart…let's sleep…" Sasha continued to weep as her mother pulled her to the blanket and laid down with her. She stared at the defiled nugget as the blanket wrapped around her, bringing some warmth into her body. She began to relax as her mother started to hum a lullaby to her. Maybe things would be better for them tomorrow, maybe in a year, but what if things never improved? What if she never had that Prince Charming come and sweep her and her mother away? _

_ "Mommy…" She sniffled and cuddled closer to her Mom's chest. "I'm scared."_

_ "I know baby. As long as I'm with you, you'll be safe…"_

Sasha opened her eyes, tears were running down her cheeks and her breathing had become heavy. Jessica had parked the car alongside Carly's school, and was watching her quietly. "Are you all right?"

"Just…an old memory…" She quickly wiped her eyes and leaned forward, trying to shake the memory from her mind. "I…was just a teenager when Mom died. God knows teenagers put their parents through hell. I just never knew my mom would die…Candy and Erin did everything they could to accommodate me for the next few years, until they eventually moved. I know I have Erin's number saved somewhere, but that was nearly ten years ago…I doubt it's still her same number."

"You saved it?"

"Yeah…" Sasha pulled her purse up from in between the seats and smiled slightly. "I've had this same purse for years, and there's a little notebook inside that I've used for phone numbers." She reached in and pulled out a tiny notebook. It had several numbers on it, most of which probably didn't even exist anymore.

"Again I ask, why have you never called up Erin and talked to her?"

"I did once, but that was years ago…I doubt she thinks about me much anymore. I didn't call her back because I assumed she was trying to forget about that life too. Her life was going well, she'd gone through college and had a well paying job as a veterinarian…"

"Well when you talked to her then, how did she sound? If you two were like sisters when you were young, then certainly she wouldn't forget you."

"Maybe." She flipped through the notebook, filled with nostalgia and fear as she scanned the numbers. She came to Erin's old number. Her heart slammed inside her chest and she felt as someone were hitting her hard in the gut. A void filled inside and her hands trembled. What would happen if she called Erin? What was the worst that could happen? If she called her, did it mean she accepted her past? Did it mean she was willing to move along from that life? "Maybe I'll call her tonight…see if the phone number's still in existence."

"If so, it'd be good for you to reconnect." She smiled and slowly nodded her head. There was absolutely no denying it would be great to reconnect with Erin. Plus, if possible, maybe she could even ask Erin to be her Maid of Honor.

* * *

><p>Ooh, going to reconnect with an old friend. How sweet<p> 


	47. Reconciliation

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 47 (Reconciliation)<p>

Sasha sat with Jessica, Carly, and Spencer in the living room. Spencer's arm was around her shoulder, Jessica was to her left, and Carly was lounging on the ground before the television. They were there to support her, as she was about to call her old friend, Erin. Thankfully, whatever happened, she knew they had her back.

As she stared down at her cell phone, anxiety started rising inside her, doubt filled her mind and her fingers trembled upon the numbers. What would she say? 'Sorry for not keeping in touch'? How much of their life and memories had fallen by the wayside? The number she had didn't actually belong to Erin anymore, but the person that answered was a cousin of hers, which explained why the number still worked. "You think I'd be burdening her? I mean, it's been a little over ten years…" Carly glanced up and lifted her shoulders.

"It's like Jeannie at school said, a true friend won't forget about you." Sasha turned her eyes to Carly and frowned, it was a bit of a bittersweet statement. On one side of the coin, it gave her hope that maybe she and Erin could be reunited, but on the other side, she felt like shit because she was the one that pushed them away. "I'd say it says a lot that you're at least trying to get back in touch with her. Maybe if she can, she can come down for a while and you two can hook up for a while, really get to know each other again."

"That would be a dream…" She chuckled nervously and started to picture herself spending time with Erin again, but she was almost certain that Erin lived elsewhere. How lucky would it be that she'd live anywhere nearby? Though she could picture herself sitting on the beach with her old friend, chatting up a storm and catching up. Just thinking about it stirred up a new confidence and she quickly dialed the number. Her eyebrows rose sharply, almost shocked by the fact that she'd just done that, so she quickly put the phone to her ear and let it ring. The questions in her mind were a mix of anxiety, nervousness, and excitement. She wondered if she was ready, because it was almost as if she were saying that she accepted her past for what it was. There was no doubt in her mind that she was, and that she was ready to move on, but damn anyone who thought it was an easy task.

"Hello?" Sasha froze upon hearing the familiar voice of her friend, she hardly expected her to answer so suddenly. Had she been so distracted by her thoughts that she hadn't noticed any time passing by? "Who is this, and how did you get my personal number?" Hearing her voice brought tears into her eyes, she wiped them away and took a deep breath, searching for the right words.

"Erin…this is Sasha. Sasha Rodriquez, Sasha Striker, either name…" She waited as a long pause turned into silence, she was afraid Erin might have hung up the phone. When she heard someone take a breath of air, she was flooded with relief.

"_Sasha_? Where the hell have you been all these years!" Erin sounded tremendously happy to be hearing from her. "Mom and I were just talking about you the other day."

"Miss Candy?"

"Actually she goes by _Candice_ now." She understood that perfectly well, after all, Candice sounded a bit better than Candy. There was an air of authority and prestige in Erin's voice, which was a bit baffling. Though she knew she worked for some business company, she thought it was a phone company. "So what are you doing? What made you decide to call me up?"

"I really missed talking to you. We were best friends, so…" She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. Her heart was still pounding, and her stomach felt empty as hell. "I've actually met someone, a great man…" She opened her eyes as Erin gasped for joy. Spencer moved his hand to hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We're getting married in May. I have one child with him, he'll be turning three in August, and I am pregnant with my second baby. Life's been a bit rough, but he and his family have been really supportive, and I'm actually going to go to college and get an education degree."

"Oh my god, that's great news! What are you going to teach?"

"I was thinking Elementary school, Grammar, or Reading." She absolutely loved books, it was just something that came with the territory. If she wasn't playing a video game, or doing something important, she would be reading. "What about you? Last I talked to you, I think you were moving up in a business?"

"Yes! Actually, I'm with T-Mobile, and I'm now one of the top executives. Not quite CEO, yet, but I'm aiming for that job." Erin laughed and Sasha felt a spark of joy inside her. She was proud, and very happy that Erin had made a life for herself. "I live with Mom out here in Miami. She saw the ocean, the beach, and just fell in love with it all." Sasha's jaw dropped and her heart shot to her throat. Miami, it was just a few hours away! Granted, the bottom of Florida, but stunning nonetheless. "You should see Mom, she's ecstatic about where I am now."

"I know, it sounds amazing. Also, we just moved to Florida with Spencer's family! We're in Tallahassee." The tears in her eyes were now running past her lips, and the excitement buzzing within her was greater than anything she'd felt in such a long time.

"We should meet up again sometime, catch up. It's been way too long."

"I know, and I actually wanted to talk to you about the wedding. I know it's been a long time since we've talked, but when I was younger, you were always my closest friend, so…Would you be interested in being my Maid of Honor?" Erin's breath hitched a bit and she took a momentary pause, seemingly to consider the offer. Sasha's heart began to beat at a slower, steady pace. She was prepared for a rejection, but praying she'd accept. "So…what do you say?"

"I'd say I'd love to, but under the condition that Mom and I can come up and spend some good quality time together. It'll be like old times." Immediately her elation skyrocketed. When she looked around, the others were grinning at her.

"That sounds great. We're living at 3500 Cypress Hawk Lane, just at the end of Tallahassee where the big lake is. When do you guys think you could come visit?" She heard a pen tapping on a desk and Erin humming as she flipped through some papers, likely a schedule.

"I can have my secretary clear me of anything anytime, but the holiday season's busy, so maybe the day after Christmas?" There was nothing big going on then, besides Spencer working and Carly going to school. Jessica would be visiting with Regina all day, dealing with whatever they had going in the case against Robert, so she would be alone with just Blake.

"Yes, I'm definitely available then."

"Great! I'll see you then. It's been _great_ hearing from you, Sasha, I can't wait to tell Mom!" She couldn't wait to see Candice either. Hell, how much about them had changed over the years? She couldn't help but imagine just what they were like now. Her emotions were haywire as she sought to calm her excited nerves.

"I'll definitely be happy to see you guys. I'll be in touch?"

"Definitely, and so will I. Now before I forget, how did you manage my number?"

"Oh, well I had saved your old one, and it belonged to your cousin, who ended up giving me your current number."

"Cool, I'm glad to hear that. Anyway, I'll call you tomorrow."

"Great!" After the two hung up, Sasha began to truly feel the impact of the emotions and the memories that were rushing back to her. She wiped her eyes and slowly rose to her feet, she was in desperate need for air.

"You okay, Sasha?" Jessica asked. Sasha nodded at her and closed her eyes.

"I'm fine, I just need a moment alone…"

She made her way out of the house and towards the lake. She gazed up at the starry sky and let a tear roll down the side of her face. Her mother came to mind, and she began to wonder if her mom would be proud of her today. There was a lot of hope that she would be, but times like these, she wished she could talk to her.

She rubbed her arms and watched the purple clouds roll past the moon. Just above the half-concealed moon was a bright star, easily detected. Her heart slowly rose in her chest as nostalgia struck her. She smiled at a memory and slowly closed her eyes.

_"That's Saturn and that right there is Jupiter," Rachel instructed while pointing up at the stars. She smiled at her eight year old daughter, who was eating a McDonalds hamburger. They were sitting on a park bench, taking a break from the walk they had been going on. They were currently living with Candy and Erin, but it was only temporary. Rachel was too proud to remain there for long, she'd been saving up the money she'd earned from the strip clubs, and was planning to buy an apartment soon._

_ Sasha kicked her legs through the air beneath the bench and tilted her head as she chewed a bite of her burger. "Mommy? What are all the other stars?" They were spread across the night sky like a blanket, and they gave off an incredibly warm feeling. "You said not all of them were planets, right?"_

_ "Right dear. I believe each star in the sky represents a person…" _

_ "A person?" Her eyes widened astonishingly and she gave her mother a look of confusion. "How does a person become a star, mommy?" Rachel's warm smile comforted her, making her lean back against her._

_ "You see sweetie, when someone passes on…they go to Heaven, and I believe that each star represents that person's house in Heaven. The star is their light, the way that you know they're watching over you, and it remains there forever. The sun conceals these homes in the daytime, but that just makes the light burn even bright at night." Sasha was surprised, she had never looked at such a tale before. "Like right now, your grandma and grandpa would be up there, gazing down at us."_

_ "Really? They are?"_

_ "Yes, and they protect us in their own way."_

_ "Do you think you and I will become stars one day, Mommy?" She bit into her hamburger once more and gazed up at the stars with longing in her eyes. She wanted so badly to be a star, but she didn't want to die. Rachel laughed softly and wrapped her arm around her shoulders._

_ "When we pass on, we will become a star. Should something ever happen to me, for example, I will always be there with you in your heart and watching over you as a star." _

_ "But you'll never die, Mommy. You'll live forever and ever, always taking care of me, right?" Rachel smiled sadly and reached down, kissing her forehead. She pulled back an inch and whispered._

_ "I will always be with you, Sasha…"_

Back then, she'd been too young to understand the diseases her mother had contracted due to her lifestyle. AIDS and HIV had been a slightly new thing, and Rachel would have passed on either way within the years, and she knew it. Though HIV wasn't what initially took her life, it made no difference whatsoever, because it would have eventually taken her. Rachel knew it, too, but she never let Sasha in on it.

That star above the moon that caught her attention, maybe it was her own mother, looking down at her from above. "You always did what you could, Mom…" Sasha's voice shook with pain. Her hands closed tight and her head bowed, her entire body was shaking. "I…was so angry, angry that you were leaving me…I said things I shouldn't have said, and I'm so, so sorry."

If she could hear her, if she could reach out and touch her, or hug her, then maybe she could know everything would be okay. "Why couldn't I have had some more time? Why were you leaving me? I remember all those questions running through my head, and…I didn't even know. You did everything you could to take care of me, and looking back, I do appreciate it." Her voice cracked as she slowly lifted her eyes to the star, which seemed to glow just a bit brighter than before.

"I talked to Erin after all these years, and I'm going to see her, along with her mom, again. I wish you were here to see it all, you'd be so happy, and probably joking about how jealous of Candice and Erin you were." She turned her eyes to the lake before her, and she could have sworn she saw a reflection of her mother in that water. Her body trembled once more and her eyes quivered.

"Mommy…you were a great mother, and I know how much you struggled, how hard it was…I knew that first hand with my son. God if you could see him now. He's the most precious child…His father is an exceptional man too, who truly loves us."

She paused herself and slowly stared down at her feet. What more could she say? She really thought her mother was hearing her, but that didn't change how much she wanted to hear back from her. She lifted her head up to the sky and let out one choked sob as her stomach knotted up inside. "I'm sorry I gave you hell when I was younger. If I could do it all over again…I know I came from a bad past, but I accept it now, and I accept…that your gone…but I miss you. I really do. Everything you did for me, everything you taught me, if there's just one thing I wish I could have said before you died. I thought about it, but there's only one thing I can think of. I…love you…" Her voice cracked again as the salty tears ran into her mouth. She wiped her eyes and sobbed, for the first time, truly grieving for her mother. "I love you, Mom…Thank you…"

The star grew brighter and Sasha was filled with a warm glow that she couldn't explain, though it felt like her mother was embracing her. It was the same warm feeling she had as a child whenever her mom held her.

After several minutes, she slowly turned around and saw Spencer watching her. He smiled at her and started walking towards her. She lifted her eyebrows and moved to meet him, letting him hug her close so she could cry on his shoulder. She finally made peace with her mother, reconciling after all these years, it seemed. That heavy feeling she felt for so long was finally gone, like a weight lifted from her shoulders. "Mom would have loved you, Spencer." Spencer smiled at her and slowly ran his hand through her hair.

"She sounds like a good woman, maybe we would have gotten along."

"Can we just sit…maybe look up at the stars for a while?"

"Of course." She smiled as he moved towards the ground, holding her hand as she gradually brought herself down and laid her head into his lap. He was sitting cross-legged, and she was lying in front of him, fairly comfortable. As she gazed up, she spotted Saturn and Jupiter, both clear as day. The star above the moon, her mother's star, as she called it, formed the head of a triangle.

"You know, mom used to tell me that the stars were loved ones watching over us." She felt him caressing her hair and glanced over to see him gazing up at the sky. She held her smile and slowly breathed in.

"Do you believe that?"

"I do, actually." She lifted her hand and pointed to her mom's star. "See that one over the moon? That's Mom…I could probably tell you so many stories about her."

"Would you? I'd love to hear about her." Her heart shot up once more and she quickly nodded, there was plenty to talk about that she would want Spencer to know. Her mom would probably love being talked about and reveling in the attention.

"I can do that, there's so much about her to tell…"

* * *

><p>Very well then<p> 


	48. Christmas Celebration

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 48 (Christmas Celebration)<p>

Christmas day arrived and the entire house was lit up with caroling. In the living room, the entire family was singing karaoke while Spencer watched, with Blake sitting next to him. He was amused, but didn't feel confident enough to sing. Carly and Sasha were up front with Jessica, Ken, Michael, Travis, and Aunt Regina. Of course Rebecca and Carly were working on the Christmas dinner, along with Jeannie and Nat. Standing next to Michael was the waitress from the diner that Spencer oh-so-graciously helped him ask out. She turned out to be a nice, smart, and respectable girl. Raquel wasn't concerned with Michael's political family either, nor was she uncomfortable with it.

Spencer put his arm around his son's shoulders and leaned down, chuckling. "Someday son, you will be a part of this. I can see it now, your mother will involve you." Blake looked up at him, slightly confused. He laughed and poked a finger towards him.

"You're funny, Daddy."

"Yes well I'm glad _someone_ appreciates my humor." He smiled and looked back to Sasha, who was singing as well as she could from that carol book. She wasn't the _best_ singer, but at least she wasn't singing off key. Michael, was singing off key. "By the way, your uncle Michael, he can't sing." Blake went back to the stuffed bear in his hands and started cuddling it. Spencer felt the pride inside and rubbed his son's head, realizing that Blake really wasn't paying attention. "You'll understand when you're older, I suppose."

In the far corner, near the fireplace that everyone was standing in front of, was a nine foot tall Christmas tree, reaching up to the ceiling. It was decorated with ornaments, glitter, and _many_ presents beneath the tree. This was their happiest Christmas, and nothing could bring it down now, not even his sperm donor of a father. He saw Nat poke his head from the kitchen, then smirked at him. "Hey Nat, in a minute we're going to start putting on some Nat King Cole tunes!" Much to his amusement, Nat's eyes went wide and his face paled considerably. He shot back into the kitchen, screaming. Spencer laughed and clapped his hands until he caught Jeannie glaring at him from around the corner. It was such a cold stare that chills and tiny bumps started forming along his arms. "Okay! Sorry about that. Won't do it again."

"You better not, or you'll get the _least_ amount of food." After the scolding, she returned to the kitchen and Spencer took a big sigh of relief. He definitely didn't want a small helping of the Christmas Turkey.

Once the caroling stopped, Travis went for the kitchen and Sasha plopped down onto the sofa next to Blake. Her lips grew into a wide grin and her hand connected with his behind Blake. "Spencer, Erin's going to be coming up tomorrow. I'm so excited to finally see her again. _So_ nervous."

"I can imagine, but I bet you two will have loads of fun catching up." He knew they'd been talking over the phone constantly for the past couple of days, so he had a good prediction for the meeting. "I'm glad you're happy. You've earned every bit of happiness that you could have." She smiled into his eyes and reached over, pecking him on the lips.

"It's all thanks to you and your family. When's the court date with your family against your father, again?"

"A month or two, the military's already pretty serious about kicking him out after Regina and mom put forward all that information on his behavior. I think he's catching wind of it." He couldn't imagine the man being very happy about it at all. After all, the woman he despised so much was _winning_ and taking him out. He was amazed by his family's capability of getting things done, of freeing him and themselves from the chains and shackles that bound them "First Grandpa comes and gets rid of Mr. Clayton, then Michael takes care of getting Nevel off our backs, Mom found me a job, Aunt Regina and Uncle Ken are helping you with college, and now they're all getting the justice against Dad…I love these people more than you could ever know."

"I know, they're great…If I knew there could be anyone like them around, I think I would have tried to get in touch with them _sooner_. Anyway, I have something I want to talk to you about, something I want to do after today's excitement has gone down a bit." He lifted his eyebrows, curious, and studied her for a moment. He became concerned when he saw her bite her lip and twiddle her thumbs in her lap. What was the problem? "I uh…I found my dad."

His jaw dropped, he stammered on his speechlessness and cleared his throat when she looked away. "What? What do you mean you found him?" Didn't she already have his number? Then again, she really hadn't talked to him since Blake was born, and he easily could have changed his number in the last two years.

"Since I last talked to him, he moved. Of course you know he's got a wife and three kids, right?" She looked up at him with a sad, hopeful smile. "Well, he's become a college dean up in Tennessee, and I was hoping maybe you and I could talk to him after everything's quieted down. You know…not to ask for help or anything, cause I know he won't fork any support over at all, but just to tell him that I'm getting married. Maybe he'll want to see his grandson."

"Yeah, maybe…" He wasn't sure, the pit in his stomach told him otherwise. This was a man that had been so hard pressed _against_ lending any support to his daughter, didn't even bother with her when her mother died, and didn't help when she told him about Blake once before. Hell, if he accepted and ever had a change of heart, he'd officially rise up to the level of being a better man than Robert shay was. "Whenever you're ready to make that call, I'll be right there to support you, okay?" She smiled and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you, Spencer. That means a lot." She put her head to his shoulder. Blake, realizing that there was some amount of cuddling going on, decided to join in, and cuddled up against Sasha. The two wrapped their arms around him as he released an enthused sigh.

After a few minutes, Travis came back into the living room with an announcement. "The turkey is in the oven! It's time to unwrap presents!" With that, Carly burst from the kitchen with her two friends, nearly bumping into Travis, who just laughed it off. Blake gazed wide-eyed and looked up to his mother for guidance. Sasha nodded subtly and kissed the top of his head as Carly waved to them.

"Blake! Come to Auntie Carly, I have something for you!" She was kneeling next to a large square box, covered with red and green dotted wrapping paper. Blake was going to receive the first present of the day. Sasha lifted him up and set him on the ground.

"Go ahead Blake, it's for you." They already explained to him the concept of Christmas, as it was actually his first Christmas celebration. Blake lifted his nervous eyes to Ken, who was holding up a video camera. Jessica walked up and took Blake's hand in hers. He tilted his head as the woman's lips turned up. She led him over to the present and knelt down beside him and Carly.

He studied his gift, it was almost as big as he was, if not bigger! He moved his arms around it and held on, almost hugging it. He glanced to Carly and Jessica for help, so they each tore one small part off for him. Seeing how to open it, he began tearing at the paper.

Spencer looked from Blake to Sasha, who had tears streaming down her face. It pleased him so much to see her in such an elated state, watching her son open his first real present. No. Watching _their_ son. A tear came to his own eye as his heart burst with pride.

Blake, with the help of his Aunt and Grandmother, finally tore off the paper, revealing a large red, yellow, and blue toy box turned onto its side. Inside the box were several toys, all for him. Also inside, to the center, was a giant stuffed Dalmatian dog. Blake reached in and pulled the fluffy animal, which could possibly double as a pillow, and hugged it close. He let out a delighted squeal and held up the dog for his parents to see.

"Mommy, Daddy, I got toys!" Spencer looked at his mom, Grandma, and aunt, seeing them smiling innocently at him. He knew Blake had at least six or seven more gifts under that tree, all smaller than the toy box of course. He did ask them _not_ to spoil Blake too much, but it was evident that they were going to spoil him anyway. Hell, they had ever right to do so _this _year.

After the presents and dinner, once everything settled down for the evening, Spence and Sasha met in their upstairs bedroom. Sasha was sitting on the edge of the bed, gripping her phone for dear life. She seemed more nervous than she was when she was calling up Erin. "Are you okay, Sasha?"

"I'll be fine…what's Blake up to?"

"He's downstairs playing with all the toys he got." He sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "You don't have to call him right now, if you don't want to."

"I want to, it's just…I'm sure he's spending time with his family, and how would he feel about me calling him today? I mean…is it right?"

"Didn't you wait long enough?"

"He's happy with his family, treats _them_ like a father should. Hell, to them, he's a better father than your dad is."

"Still doesn't say _much_." She chuckled vainly and slowly shook her head. Her body was trembling and her heart was pounding.

"I've done my research, he's always doing something with his family, he's got this lavish lifestyle and everything…I've talked to his wife one time before, she knows about his one night stand with a stripper and she's still with him, so…if they worked everything out, then clearly they would have done it by now."

"So you're afraid to call him, because?"

"I don't want to screw things up…I don't want to mess up whatever happiness he has with his family or with his career…" He felt a sense of irritation as he eyed the phone in her hands, he didn't think she deserved all this pain. Not after he was trying to do everything he could to make her happy, to take care of her. She already had the number up, she just needed to click the call button.

"No, we're not doing this. You're going to get your closure with him whether it's good or bad. I don't want you torturing yourself over this man…" He took the phone. She gasped out and reached for it, but froze once he hit the call button. "I'm sorry, Sasha…you don't have to talk to him, I'll do that for you if you like…"

"Spencer…" He started to say something, but when he someone answered, he had to turn his attention to the person on the other line. It was a woman's voice, possibly the wife.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Maxwell Baxter's number?"

"Yes, this is Abby, his wife." He heard a clinking sound in the background, perhaps she was drinking hot chocolate. "Max is currently setting up a tent in the backyard, he should be back in a few minutes, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah, I don't know if you know me, but I'm Spencer Shay-"

The woman's voice lit with recognition, stunning him into silence. "Oh, Carly Shay's brother? My children used to watch iCarly _all_ the time." He slowly looked to Sasha, who started chuckling, as the phone was on speaker.

"You have children?"

"Yes, three. Todd, Monica, and Kevin. Twenty, Seventeen, Thirteen respectively. Though, my husband does have another child somewhere, but his stubborn pride keeps him from acknowledging her. I've told him time and time again…" As she rattled on, Spencer's jaw fell and Sasha's eyes started to water. Apparently Abby seemed to embrace the idea of a fourth, older child, more than the husband did. From what she was saying in her rant, the three kids would like to see Sasha too. "I'm sorry, I'm going on about something you probably don't want to hear. Why _are_ you calling my husband?"

"Uh well…" He chuckled nervously and started rubbing his neck. He hadn't planned for this, Abby sounded much nicer than he was expecting her to be. He was _planning_ for a fight. Sasha put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. "Actually, I wanted to talk about that fourth…Sasha…"

"Yes, Sasha Rodriguez, also known as Striker, right? She was on iCarly once, I think…Monica pointed it out a couple years ago."

"Right. She's my fiancé." He blurted it out so abruptly that Abby gasped in mid sentence. Now that it was finally out, he needed to tell her about some other things that were going on in Sasha's life. "We're not asking for money, and I'm sorry to bother you on Christmas Day…"

"I-It's okay, I'm just surprised you would call. How is she?"

"She's right next to me, a bit afraid to talk." Sasha smacked him on the arm and he flashed a smirk. "She, _we_ want you all to be a part of the family. You see, Max is a grandfather now. We're getting married on May 10th…We have one two year old son, and a baby on the way."

"Oh my…how does Max not know this?" Spencer heard a young voice in the background, someone who couldn't be much older than thirteen or fourteen. "Oh Kevin sweetie, go get your father." He smiled slightly as the woman returned to the phone. "I am so sorry he's been so disconnected, he's just so damn stubborn and refuses to open up to anything."

"Yeah? I can see where Sasha gets it from." He smirked at her again and Sasha shot him a glare. She smirked and lifted her eyebrows, an expression that clearly told him he would not be sleeping in the bed with her tonight if he kept it up. "Okay moving on from that…what is he so afraid of?"

"I honestly-" He heard someone grabbing at the phone, then a deep voiced man started talking.

"Look here, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you're looking for any kind of financial support, you'll have to look _elsewhere_. I had a one-time fling with a stripper before I ever met my wife, I've got three wonderful children, and I am a dean of a college. Don't call me again, I do not want people at the college finding out that I had a child with a stripper." Spencer narrowed his eyes and watched Sasha throw her hands into the air before storming out of the room. There it was, the fight he was expecting.

"Listen here, I'll have you know that your daughter is much more than that. She's smart, beautiful, strong, and she's doing the best she can to not only raise one child, but dealing with her second child. Now all we want is for you to show up at the damn wedding, we're not asking for money! The least you could do is not be an asshole, pardon my language…I don't think you're very deserving of respect."

"Wedding? So she's getting married?"

"Yes, and she doesn't even have her mother around to be happy for her." He heard Abby say something in the background, clearly she was upset with Max at this point. "After being kicked to the curb by my own father, going through hard times, the least you could do is not be one of the assholes that kicked us while we were down. I guess that's too much to ask for, isn't it?"

"Listen…"

"No, I'm done talking. I have to go talk to Sasha. I see she was right about you, there isn't a supportive bone in your body." He clicked off the phone and set it down, then took a deep breath to try and calm himself. Once ready, he got up and started walking out of the room to console Sasha. Needless to say, he wouldn't try contacting Max again.

* * *

><p>So what we have discovered here is Sasha's birth father seems to be in denial. This is not a river in Egypt...<strong><br>**


	49. Finally, Closure

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

* * *

><p>Chapter 49 (Finally, Closure)<p>

The court case turned out well, Spencer was impressed by the publicity that had been received. His father had been brought down on his many charges against the family and removed from the military. He didn't appear happy, but the Carlson's did their best to not only protect themselves, but to protect Spencer and his family. Sasha had spent a week with Erin and Candice, a truly emotional week that reignited the friendship that had been lost so long ago. Overall, he was proud of her for taking that brave first step. She'd truly grown and showed herself to be a strong and vigilant woman, something that kept him loving her even more each and every day.

Things were beginning to look up for all of them, and fishing had truly helped become that pastime, that escape they needed, just as Travis and Ken told him when they first arrived in Florida. Now the months had passed, Sasha began college and was doing exceptionally well with support all around, and Spencer was even looking for a place that could become a _home_. However, his mother was trying to talk him into staying at her place and letting her move elsewhere, handing the family home to the next generation.

Carly did well in school with her new friends, Jeannie and Nat. She remained in touch with Sam, Freddie, and Gibby. All of them were here today, on the wedding day.

It was a warm sunny day, and the wedding was taking place right where the wedding of each generation before him had been, on the lake. Spencer stood with the crisp air blowing against his face, he was neatly dressed in a brilliant black tuxedo, and his hands grasping one another at his waist. Beside him, his best man Socko, and groomsmen, Gibby and Freddie. Sasha's Maid of Honor was none other than Erin, and her bridesmaids were Carly, and Sam. They had not arrived just yet, and the preacher had not made it to the altar. Rather, Spencer and the guys were hanging right where they were supposed to be when the wedding did start, anxious as hell.

Behind them, the brilliant waters rippling in the wind. Before them, rows of white chairs where the guests were beginning to make their way towards. Uncle Kenneth would be the one handing Sasha away to him in place of her father, who still blatantly refused anything to do with her, even after they went out of their way to locate him and tell him about his two grandchildren.

"Why are we still standing here when the wedding hasn't even begun?" Socko asked, placing his hand onto Spencer's shoulder. "I know you're anxious, but you have to relax." Spencer smiled politely, still staring at the trees in front of them, while speaking through his teeth.

"I've finally got her to marry me, Socko. Two children later, a hell of a life later, this woman has finally decided that she wants to spend her life with _me_. I don't want to wait another minute." Freddie and Gibby smiled at him and shook their heads. He shot a swift glare and cleared his throat. "What? I can be impatient, can't I? I reserve the right to it."

"Well, I guess we can't argue _that_ logic, it has been a hell of a long time hasn't it? So, you spoke with Sasha's pop?"

"Yeah, bastard still wants nothing to do with her. He's off living somewhere in Tennessee, a college _dean_. He wanted nothing to do with the daughter of a stripper." Scoffing, Spencer crossed his arms and glared off at the lake. "Of course, _my_ mother is a politician. My entire family are into politics, and they weren't worried about _their_ careers, which by the way, are _still good_."

"Did you tell him this?"

"Yes, but it means nothing to the guy." This was not a subject he wanted to discuss on his wedding day, it was a happy day, not a bad one. Besides, it also brought up the memories of his own father, who so grossly rejected them. Of course, who could count on dads to do anything right anymore? Save the few good ones there are. Either way, Mr. Maxwell Baxter never gave a penny over to his daughter, and he never would. Perhaps Sasha had an easier time accepting this than he did. "This isn't the time to talk about that anyway, Socko."

"Right. Time to celebrate, the happiest day of your life. You're finally getting hitched, tying the not, entering into slavery." Spencer jerked at the joke and glared at Socko, who simply laughed. "Just messin' around bro."

"Well _don't_." He couldn't help but to be a little amused, but he really wasn't in the mood for laughs. It was hard to do so when nerves were flaring up in every direction. "Sorry, I'm just…really nervous right now. Nothing can go wrong today, absolutely nothing."

"And nothing will. This is yours and Sasha's big moment. The one that not just you, but pretty much everyone else, has been _waiting_ for." Freddie and Gibby murmured their agreements and Spencer felt the blood rush to his cheeks. "Be happy man, I'm proud of you. I am _glad_ I destroyed that computer of yours!"

"You still owe me about five hundred dollars for that." Socko laughed again and Spencer flashed him a smirk. He managed to make a joke, but at the same time, perhaps Socko _would_ owe him this money. "Nah, I wouldn't do that to you man."

"I'll buy you a drink later. How's that?"

"Fine." His mind drifted to the court case that his family had, it was aired on national television. Jessica had been praised while Robert had been severely faulted, the man had a crazed expression throughout the entire case it seemed, but it was understandable that the man was angry. Who wouldn't be pissed if someone he had control over managed to slip through their fingers?

Freddie put his hand over to Socko's shoulder and cleared his throat. "Hey Socko, it's time for us to get back with the girls. Remember we have to come out the aisle with them?" The order was to be Freddie and Sam coming down the aisle, followed by Gibby and Carly, then finally Socko and Erin. After that, Sasha would come out with Ken.

"Okay. Spencer, we'll see you in a few." Spencer nodded and watched the guys depart. The wedding was finally underway. It felt like a dream, too perfect. The guests began filling the seats, it was a simple, yet classy wedding which was open only to those on the guest list. Although, it seemed the place wasn't hard to find, people had been showing up to congratulate Spencer and Sasha for a few months now.

The preacher stepped in the center beside him and gave him a nod of approval. Wedding music started playing from a stereo nearby, and ushers led the relatives to their seats.

Spencer watched anxiously as the flower girl and ring bearer came walking up. Blake was seated in his grandmother's lap, clapping his hands in the air. The bridesmaids and groomsmen came out, arm in arm, then finally the Best Man and Maid of Honor. Then behind them, a vision which stopped the world. Everyone rose and Spencer's heart thumped in his chest.

Sasha stood with a bouquet in her hands and her cheeks red with blush. She had a snow white veil which fell from a crown of white flowers. Her wedding dress was pleated from the waist to her heels, and her chest piece was adorned with embroideries and pearls. She wore white arm warmers that ran all the way to her bare shoulders. Her hair flowed out to her back and her eyes were as bright as her smile. She outshined everyone there.

He took a deep breath and watched as she slowly walked the aisle with Ken moving next to her. The man was wearing the same grey suit that his father was wearing, with a silver tie atop a blue dress shirt.

As they were halfway down the aisle, they heard someone call out, interrupting the flow, much to Spencer's annoyance. "Pause the wedding! Wait!" Everyone groaned and turned back to see an older man with silver hair and a black suit. He had a mustache and beard, as well as shades. Spencer didn't recognize him at all, but Sasha did a double take. Beside the man was a woman with amber hair and a soft, yet stern expression, scolding him for interrupting a wedding when they could have just sat down and waited.

Behind them, a twenty-year old man shook his head and ran his hand carefully through his chin length brown hair. A young girl, Carly's age, came pulling a short round kid through the trees, sputtering as she picked the leaves from her golden hair. "Seriously Dad? You couldn't have rethought the plan? Instead you choose to not only embarrass us, but rush us through all those trees without thinking to _avoid_ the branches? Honestly!" They were all dressed in formalwear, each apparently ready for the ceremony.

The dad rolled his eyes and slowly stepped forward, meeting Sasha's bewildered gaze. "Sasha…"

"D-Dad?" Spencer's jaw dropped and Ken lifted his eyebrows up as Sasha cleared her throat and straightened her back. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here on my wedding day. After all the rejection, after all the _hate_…I hope you don't expect me to just forgive you. If that's what you're looking for." The man frowned and his eyes dipped to the ground for a moment.

"I know, and no, I don't. I do know I couldn't stop hearing it from Abby and my children, begging me…and I gave some thought to it, and I realized…they're right. You are my daughter, whether or not I acknowledge it. You exist, and while I'm sure you hate me, and you have every right to, I _do_ want to be a part of that life." He looked over to Blake and smiled with a hint of pride. "Plus, I have grandchildren…I wanted to see my grandchild at least, to see you as well." He returned his gaze to Sasha. "Spencer was right, you really have grown into a beautiful woman. I know of the struggles you've been through, and to survive all of that…you really are strong, and I couldn't be prouder…I'm sure your mother would say the same."

"Yeah…but I thought your career as a Dean was more important than having a daughter birthed by a stripper?" Her voice was laced with bitterness, and the affect showed on Maxwell's face. He put his hand over his chest and sighed. "Also, if you're looking to buy yourself into my life, that's not going to happen."

"No, I wouldn't. I don't even deserve the notion of being your father. I know I've been an asshole to you, and I know I could have helped you, and I _should _have. I don't deserve to be a part of your life, but I want to be…I do."

Spencer could tell he was serious, the look in his eyes was genuine. It came as a shock to him, but at the same time, he was happy that the man was making an effort. Sasha's eyes started to grow misty, and her arms lowered about an inch. He knew she probably wouldn't forgive the man right away, but if she gave him a chance, she might be able to eventually accept him into her life. "Why did it take you so long, I mean, just because you were afraid? Where was a dad when I _needed_ one? Where were you when mom died, or when I was on the streets?"

"I was busy…being a stubborn idiot. I should have been there, I know that now. There's nothing I can do to change it all, as much as I wish I could, but…everything you've gone through has made you into a great woman."

"I never asked for that life. I hated every minute of it, up until I met Spencer, my life was shit…and you could have _changed_ that for me!"

"I know. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be a father to you now. The truth is, I've always felt this emptiness, like I was missing something, and now I see what it was. I know you can hate me, I know you probably would turn me away right now, and you can, but I'm here begging you…give me a chance to make things right. Give me a chance to be your father…"

"It's going to take a while…"

"I know." In that moment, Spencer saw something moving behind him. He was stricken with fear as he watched his own father emerge from the trees, an angry expression spread across his face. Robert stepped beside Maxwell, glaring daggers at Sasha and Jessica, both of whom froze in their places. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

"Robert Shay, and I do not agree with this wedding." He pulled a gun from his sports jacket, causing everyone to scream out in fright.

"Hey! I am talking to my daughter here!"

"Like I care." He aimed his gun directly at Sasha and growled, Spencer froze, unsure of what to do. If he ran towards her, he might not be able to reach her in time! "First you, then the _bitch_ ex-wife. You're the reason everything screwed up, some whore my son knocked up. Then he's got the balls to move in with Jessica, who gets me discharged? I don't _think_ so. I'll take you all out."

"You do _not_ talk to her like that!" Maxwell grabbed Robert's wrist and narrowed his eyes as he twisted behind him, yanking Robert's arm backwards over the shoulder. Robert screamed out in pain and dropped the gun, causing it to fire off into the trees. "I recognize you now, from the news a while back. The Carlson's had that case against you? Well save your damned revenge for another time, because you are _not _controlling this situation!" Maxwell curled his arm and shot his elbow back into Robert's neck, knocking him unconscious. Everyone stood speechless, amazed at how quickly he put him out. Two of the Carlson bodyguards ran up and lifted Robert up. Sasha pointed and stuttered before letting out a full sentence.

"How did you just…what the hell…just happened…"

"Had some backyard wrestling when I was a kid. Three older brothers. You learn to handle yourself. Also was drafted into Vietnam during its final years, there's a lot you don't know about me."

"Well…" Spencer looked to his father, feeling the anger growing inside of him. He could deal with Maxwell interrupting his wedding, but his own damned father? God he hated this man! Plus, the guests looked shaken up. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, calling out for everyone's attention. "Maybe we should take a few hours to relax? Continue this wedding off _right_?" Many people agreed, and it would give Sasha some time to breathe with Max's family here.

Within a few hours, they had returned to their places. The excitement was over. Robert had been carted away to jail, a broken man, who obviously was still in shock that someone else _controlled_ him. All his life he'd been used to being the one controlling everyone, commanding attention, and this was the first time someone else dominated. It definitely won brownie points for Maxwell.

Spencer got to talk to him with Sasha, and he was truly grateful to be there. He enjoyed spending time with Blake, and it was great to see his eyes light up like Travis's whenever he was around his grandson. Maybe Spencer would one day enjoy that same pride and happiness when holding _his_ grandchild.

Watching the aisle closely, this time Ken was sitting with Regina. While Maxwell didn't think he deserved to, Sasha convinced him to be the one to hand her away. It was possible, one day, the two would be close as fathers and daughters should be, but of course, that would take time.

When she made it to the altar, the preacher spoke his first proud words. "We are here to join Spencer Shay and Sasha Rodriquez in holy matrimony. If there is anyone that does not believe a union between these two must be fulfilled, speak now or forever hold your peace." Spencer slowly looked back, as though _daring_ anyone to say anything. He might punch them down if the stood up. He got a chuckle out of the fact that his mother had completely soaked his grandparent's formal clothing with her tears. When no one rose, Spencer looked back at the preacher. "Who gives the bride away?"

"Her father," Maxwell said with a subtle smile. He and Sasha turned to Spencer. "Maxwell Baxter." He extended his hand and Spencer shook it, gripping firmly and gazing strongly into the man's eyes. "Take care of her."

"I will." Max told him earlier that he was impressed with Spencer's strength, to have the courage to call him up the day he did and say all the things that he did. It was a wakeup call, almost, and one that he'd been needing for damn near thirty years.

Sasha would go on to have a girl, they were naming their daughter _Rachel_, after her mother. The family home on the lake was now theirs, and financially, they could take care of themselves without any trouble. Carly and her mom would move into an apartment near the community college where Carly would, inspired by her mother, start taking courses for the political career track.

Finally, the struggle to survive, was over. They fought against all the odds placed against them, struggled to keep above ground, and to thrive in the financially stressing times. The love they had for one another, and Carly as well, was what got them so far.

The minister spoke his final words, sealing them together forever. If they could survive hell together, then they could survive _anything_. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, Spencer and Sasha Shay. You may kiss the bride."

Then, they leaned in, the emotions flaring up as their lips met and drowned out the applause around them. After this, wherever the world took them, the sky was the limit.

* * *

><p>Ah yes, the closure they all needed. Well, the epilogue is next.<p> 


	50. The Legacy

Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: The final chapter, and perhaps the most unique perspective

* * *

><p>Chapter 50 (The Legacy)<p>

Seventeen-year old Blake Shay zipped down the highway in his deep blue convertible, top down. He had one hand on the wheel and his left elbow hanging over the edge of the car. His hair flew wildly behind him and his bangs swept across the lens of his black shades. "Didn't dad say if you wreck another car you're not getting a new one?" The brilliance of his little sister's voice echoed in his ears, tearing him from the fantasy and nostalgia that the radio had given him, belting out _Good Life _by Audio Adrenaline. He looked over to his fourteen-year old sister and shrugged.

"I'm off to college soon, Rachel. I'm _keeping_ the car." Rachel shook her head and brushed her hand through her long hair. Blake was picking her up from school, a daunting task in his eyes, but he did it out of love for his sister. After all, family values were instilled into him at an early age.

"Not going to do you much good if it's totaled. Or if _we're_ totaled, so if you don't mind…stop going eighty to eighty five in a seventy mile an hour freeway!" He rolled his eyes and sighed as he pushed down on the brake, slowing down to seventy. "That's better. You know, Dad had his wild days too, I think. So I guess you get it from him."

"I guess." He couldn't picture his dad as wild and crazy, even though he knew there were those times. Almost fifteen years to after living the life of a poor family, they were doing very well now. Their father was the owner of a museum, he had his serious moments, and he still liked to help the security and police team out from time to time. Their mother moved up through the years and was a college professor now. It was almost embarrassing to think that his mother would likely be teaching him _again_ when he started up college at TCC. She taught him one year in elementary, taught him one year in junior high, had been asked to transfer to high school. "So what do you think, you're finally finishing up ninth grade."

"I think it's _amazing_. I get to be a sophomore, I'm so ready!" He felt a bit of pride for her and chuckled to himself. She was the one always trying to study, always trying to excel. He believed she got that from their Aunt Carly, otherwise known as Senator Carly Gibson.

Blake recalled seeing his uncle for the first time at a very young age, just before moving to Florida. It was all very hazy to him, since he was barely three at the time, but there were some images that he could bring to light if he thought hard enough. Carly and her husband reunited when he turned seven. She dated him a bit and married.

As for the Bensons, they still lived in Texas, but they were able to fly over on rare occasions that their jobs and family life didn't keep them overly busy.

Blake took an exit ramp off the freeway and moved into the right hand lane, they were still headed for the lake house on Cypress Creek. Indeed it became Spencer's family home when his mother moved out, all his money was his own. His mom lived happily on her own in the house that Travis and Rebecca had lived in. They'd passed on a few years ago, happy that they got to see their great grandchildren grow up. The sad thing for Blake was, he practically had only one grandparent left. Then again, there was Sasha's father, who came around to visit the family a few times each year.

As they pulled up to the house, Spencer and Sasha were busy with yard work. Rachel hopped from the car and rushed over to her parents. "Mom, Dad, Blake was speeding down the highway again!" Blake sighed in desperation as he left the car and walked over. He faked a smile and put his hand to his sister's shoulder while his parents gave him a quick glare.

"Oh Rachel, I am _so _going to get you back for this." Rachel laughed and ran into the house. Blake stood at eye level with his father. Spencer was a bit huskier than he used to be and had a thick mustache that gave him a suave appearance. Though, his hair had a bit of a spike to it.

"Blake, I've told you before not to speed," Spencer warned. "You know better, and with your sister in the car! I'm more concerned about you winding up in a wreck than that car, so please, try to simmer down on the gas pedal."

"It's not like I go _that _fast." Ah the innocence he had as a youth was gone, it wouldn't possibly work on his parents. "Just living in the moment, Dad." Spencer laughed and motioned him inside.

"Go in, dinner will be done soon." Blake smiled and walked towards the door. His old man was right, it was probably safer for him _not_ to go so fast. Besides, living in the moment wasn't necessarily a good thing. If there was anything he remembered from his toddler days, and really it was not much at all, living in the moment was not something that was a positive thing. He'd heard the stories more than he could actually recall the memories, and each time he heard them, he couldn't fathom how difficult those times were. Or, for that matter, how his dad could be so stupid sometimes.

As he put his hand to the door, he looked back to his parents and smiled at the two of them. They were hugging and laughing, even kissing from time to time. It felt good that even after all these years, they were still very much in love, and one of the few couples out there that actually _stayed _together.

He moved into the house and took a deep breath. College would start next fall for him, he was opting to live on the campus. His goal was to pursue the Criminal Justice field and become a big time police officer, but at the same time, he was thinking of going into the military. He wanted to do better than his grandfather had done, to be the man that his grandfather had not been. That, and, his love for adventure was almost too overpowering. He didn't want to be held down, sure he'd settle down in a few years, but he sure as hell wasn't going to do that now. There was a time and a place.

As he walked past Rachel's room, he heard some of the old iCarly tapes. He peered in and saw her watching them on the computer, they'd all been burned onto CDs for viewing so the family could have them for future times. She always enjoyed the show, but he never really got into it. It was amusing at times, but other times it just seemed to be lacking quite a bit of consistency. He'd seen sketch comedy before and it never interested him.

Blake moved to his bedroom upstairs and took a seat at his desk. He gazed out the window and pictured himself out in the open air, a thrill seeker, but maybe not as irresponsible as his dad had been in _his_ youth. Everyone expected him to be like his father, to have a taste for art, but he didn't. In truth, art positively _bored_ him to tears. Rachel was more interested in that stuff. He had his hobbies, such as writing as a more relaxed hobby, but ever since he was a kid, there was only one thing he ever dreamed of doing, and that was to feel the rush of the wind against his face.

The future was still open, still full of blue skies. He didn't have to be a police officer, he could be a pilot, a fighter pilot, or maybe even a racecar driver. His family would never go for that, nor would he, to be honest. He had pounded in his head the mistakes his dad made when younger, therefore he knew just the things he _wouldn't _wind up doing.

Of course, how hard was it to be responsible? He knew not to mooch off his parents for money, he knew better than to lie to his family. Family, to him, was more important than life itself. It had to be, with the nightmares they suffered when he was just a tyke? "Oh Blake!" He looked back to see Rachel's head poking through the door.

He smirked playfully and raised his eyebrows. "What do you want, runt?"

"Your girlfriend's here for dinner." His heart shot up and he immediately rose up as his girlfriend, Shannon, walked into the room. She had sandy brown curls that bounced with every step and a beautiful smile to match her bright blue eyes. "I'll leave you two alone. Dinner won't be ready for another hour, I think." She shut the door and Blake hurried over to his girlfriend.

"So what have you been up to?"

"Working on finals, it's been a stressful week," Shannon replied with a soft sigh. The two sat on the edge of the bed and looked off to the wall. "How about you? Finals week going well?"How about you? Finals week going well?"

"Depends on how you look at it. It's the studying that's hell. If it helps get into college, all the better I say."

"Yeah. You know what I want to be one day? A doctor. You think that's too high of a goal to shoot for?"

"Not at all. Besides, you can make anything out of anything, I think. Mom and Dad seemed to rise out of the ashes well."

"I admire your parents, actually. From what you've told me about them, I'd say they did pretty well for themselves. It takes strong people to go through all that."

"It really makes you think about things…I'm glad I know these things so I won't repeat the same mistakes my dad's made. I love my dad, proud of him, think he's the strongest guy I know, but I also know he's made a lot of mistakes that I don't want to repeat."

"Yeah, that's true." Shannon folded her hands in her lap and gazed out the window. "So, future's all up in the air, right? What are you going to do in college? Any ideas?"

"Not sure. I think after the first year at TCC, I'm going to travel around a bit if I can, you know, traveling the world is nice. Nothing quite so enchanting as seeing the world and feeling the rush of the wind in your face."

"True, very true. I mean if you _had_ to, do you think you'd stay here? You know, be with me?" Blake smiled at her and lay back on the bed, putting his hands behind his head. Shannon moved up beside him, curling into a ball and breathing out.

"Are you asking me to stay here?"

"Well no, I'm just speaking hypothetically, and I would never ask you to give up your dreams. I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on the matter."

"Tough decision, you sure I couldn't take you with me?" He smirked teasingly and Shannon laughed.

"I can't leave Florida, I have too much tying me down." He sighed and moved his arm around her, gazing deep into her eyes.

"You know I love you."

"And I love you." She reached up and kissed his lips. He never really thought so far into the future, just a short distance. The 'living in the now' outlook probably was one of those things carried over by his father. Of course, so was the inability to resist the very beautiful girlfriend he was very much in love with.

"I think if it came down to it, I'd stay here with you." He brushed her hair back and leaned forward, kissing her tenderly. It didn't take much longer before their kisses were getting deeper and longer, and finally just as his parents before, they too were falling into their first temptation.

* * *

><p>Oh dear, and the legacy continues with Blake. Well, at least he won't have it quite as bad as Spencer. That's it, thank you all who have followed this story, I'm so very glad to have had you ^_^. Boris, of course, always a pleasure. Jhuikmn, always have enjoyed your reviews, and to any other constant readers, thank you. Some of you have kept this story alive when it looked like it would fail,but you enjoyed every minute of it and I'm glad to have brought a great story to you. Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, Until next time.<p>

By the way if you want another good dramatic story that I'm writing, check out all my recent ones. In each fandom, I've got some great stuff going on!


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